Curses and Cups
by Eyes like Dawn
Summary: In a hospital basement, the desperate Jefferson rescues a woman thought long dead from Mr. Gold's past in order to obtain the Dark One's help in the war against Regina that is about to begin. Half the curse is broken but there are hearts to mend and evil queens to kill in order for it to be fully obliterated. Sequel to 'Tale as Old as Time', but can stand as it's own story as well
1. Escape

_A/N: Yes that's right, the plot bunnies ambushed me. A few people asked if I might do a sequel to 'Tale as Old as Time', and you know what that got me thinking. I wanted so much more from the last episode and beyond concerning Gold and Belle. Also, I can't wait for next season; so here we are! There might be some references to my previous tale, but its not the type of story where you'll have to read the fist one in order to get it. Furthermore, this story springs from the 'offical ending' of my pervious story and not the Alternate ending. Note: I probably wont finish this until 'The Beast Within' is complete, but I'm not certain my mind has a tendency to be everywhere at once. Thanks for taking the time to read and review and enjoy!_

**~8~8~**

"_Do you think he still loves you!" A hard, feminine voice snapped through the voided darkness like the bite of a wolf's fangs. Her vile tone was laced with utterly sordid and cruel amusement as she wailed torment upon a chained figure unable to protect itself from the hard kicks against her body and the pain that materialized seemingly from midair. _

"_Do you think he still cares? Why hasn't he come for you if he returns your vaunted love?" The voice leered as another crackling pain seized the fettered form in its icy talons of agony. _

"_He does love me; I know he does!" The captured figure wailed in the darkness to the shrouded figure as she struggled against the thick iron collar digging viciously around her scraped, raw neck that intermittently oozed driblets blood._

_The captive figure couldn't see the foul harpy that was wracking havoc upon her, but she felt her presence surrounding her like a physical weight burdening her; a malicious force that suppressed her will and hope as if she were the blackness incarnate trying to strangle what little faith that she clung to desperately in her ever aching heart._

_The black figure barked a harsh, grating laugh that stung more than the torment laced upon the chained figures body. "Call him then. Scream his name and see if your master comes to save his precious little slave girl."_

_The chained female opened her mouth to scream his name into the darkness that pounded about her only to pause suddenly in horror, her mind frantically working for the moniker she sought to cry. What was it? What had her love been called? His lovely, yet strange name? _

_Her cobalt orbs clamped shut as she tried to imagine his face to mind; anything to bring back his name to her lips, but even the memory of his image was blurry leaving only what looked like gray-gold dust floating upon the voided dark and the faint shimmer of scales swirling about her thoughts. _

_She knew who he was, but she couldn't say it or bring his title to her tongue no matter how diligently she searched the recesses of her battered mind. _

_Balling up her bloodied, tear stained fists determinedly, the tortured woman bashed them at the taunting blackness as if she might strike the figure layered in its shroud, wanting to scream in abject frustration. _

_Why could she never recall his name-. And then she had it, memories of cloaks and fireplaces and reading and kindness and a kitchen filled with smoke and an ancient spinners wheel paused from its fastidious cycle and…and…her lips met with his own in a sweet bliss that was so painfully torn asunder far to soon._

_A joyous cry burst from the chained woman's lips as she strained against her bonds towards the darkness, that for the first time seemed to recoil back in surprise. "His name is R-"_

A rough hand that shook the beauty on her right shoulder was the first thing that awoke Annabelle French from the throes of the usually horrid dream that was strangely about to take a rather odd turn that had never occurred before. It was one of her usual nightmares she endured through her pill educed dozes, but never had it ended as though she had pushed the misty wisps of onyx midnight back. That was new and…strange.

The young woman muttered a throaty tired groan once as her azure eyes fluttered open to meet the thick drab off-white padding of the cell that she detested more than anything else in her secluded little world that was more suited to an ancient crypt rather than a cell.

The dirty, threadbare clothes that haggardly clung to her thin form and the dull and dazed emptiness she felt all over brought her back to harsh reality of incarceration quickly as she curled up miserably upon the padded cement ledge that served as her bed.

"I…I already took my pills today." Anna stated timidly, not turning over to see the sharp faced nurse in white that no doubt held another tiny paper cup filled with meds for her to shove down her throat.

If she was never to get out of her tiny prison of padded cement and one tiny squat window that showed nothing but the asphalt to the usually deserted back parking lot, why give her medicine at all? Better to be lost in the throes of wandering delusion and blissful hallucination than stuck in a tedious monotonous reality where nothing changed but the light and varying degrees of chill in the room.

"I'm not here to bring you pills." A steady male voice replied smoothly, startling Anna out of her blank nothingness like a jolt of lightening had struck her.

The beauty's azure eyes widened at the male voice she never in her wildest fancies deemed to hear as she turned around; her brow furrowed in thin lines of curiosity.

The man standing before her was tall and clean shaven with short cropped slick black hair. Yet despite his fine grooming he seemed a trifle worn with a wallowing sadness in his dark sunken eyes that belayed a desperate cunning simmering under the calm surface of his neutral features. He was garbed in a white nurse's uniform, but the beauty got a precipitous little feeling he wasn't one of the staff.

A small attempt of a smile that utterly failed smeared briefly across his lips before falling away as he proffered his hand for her to grasp. "Come with me." He ordered mildly, if not with a touch of impatience flitting his even tone.

Go? What was it he meant? Anna pondered in shock as she slid from the padded bench numbly and scuffled a few wary steps towards him. Her russet curls tumbled in a veil of lanky wayward strands about her face, but she shoved them back hurriedly; her dull cobalt orbs sparking with a forgotten life as she searched him frantically. "Go? Where? Who are you?" The beauty stammered in confusion; attempting to put something…anything together.

In all her years being locked up, a small part of her noted that she had never spoken so much in one day. Even standing there talking to a complete stranger sent a thrill through her that washed a renewed freshness through the dullness of her fogged mind that mugged every thought in a morose of confusion.

The man grabbed her shoulders gently, making sure she stared him straight in the eyes as he spoke slowly as to a child. "My name is Jefferson and although you don't know it yet we are on the same side in this war. I know you have a lot of questions but I can't explain everything right now. We need to hurry."

"W-war?" Anna echoed unsurely trying to figure his words. What war? What had happened to the world as she was confined in her square cell of creeping madness?

Grinning faintly the onyx haired man shook his head slightly, a ghost of a crazed chuckle muttering as a whisper from his lips. "Never mind that. I'm here to get you out of here. There is a man; his name is Mr. Gold. You have to find him and tell him Regina locked you up. It's very important; he's very powerful and he'll know what to do and protect you. But, you have to tell him specifically that Regina. Locked. You. Up."

Even though her mind was awhirl in a vibrant myriad of inquires with the sudden change of events that was beginning to send Anna into a pernicious tailspin of thoughts, the beauty nodded vigorously as she branded the names to memory. "Yes, I must find Mr. Gold…tell him Regina locked me up."

"That's right." Jefferson assured her with a small satisfied pat on her shoulder, and for the first time he smiled, yet there was a bitterness and loathing rippling under the malice filled upturn of the lips that made Anna want to cringe.

He said nothing more as he grabbed her gently by the arm and for the first time in 30 years Annabelle French tremulously walked out of the cell she had known for so long.

The pair traversed the dim halls between the stalwart iron cast boilers, coated in thick gray grime as they wedged their way through the crevices of dirty tarnished steel and scurried under the harsh flickering lights towards a forgotten emergency exit.

"How long will it take us to reach this Mr. Gold?" Anna inquired in a whisper that echoed around the ugly squat boilers in a sound that made her flinch.

"I can't accompany you." Jefferson revealed tonelessly without looking back, as he led the way though the cobwebbed strewn under halls. "I have much to do in the coming hours…very much. Storybook is not a big place; I'll give you a few directions though I doubt that will help you much."

Anna pawed away a stagnate filmy web of dust as her body shook in a hacked, racking cough, her lungs filling with particles of grime as they finally reached the old exit, though she all but balked at his words. He was leaving a woman who had been institutionalized for years to wander across a town she didn't even recall? "Why are you doing this, what's going on. Tell me." The beauty demanded anxiously as she grabbed Jefferson's sleeve in near desperation.

"You'll know soon enough." The strange fellow replied cryptically in a powerful grunt as he kicked open the forgotten rusted door that for Anna led to the freedom she craved with all her being. "Everyone will." He finished dryly before bolting away into the sudden brightness of day, leaving Anna all by her lonesome to find a man name Mr. Gold.

~8~8~

Storybrooke was a very big place, Anna was quickly coming to realize, despite Jefferson's claims to the contrary. Compared to the 5 by 5 cell that had been mostly the only home she had ever known, the tiny shire was massive and frightening in every conceivable way. It might has well have been the Taj Mahal to her cramped senses that didn't seem to recall any landmark or road sign.

It had stormed the day before, casting a glossed liquid sheen on the road and sidewalks. The sky was awash in a drab, sullen gray that promised more rain in the night or late evening as Anna steadily wandered aimlessly about in the soggy inclement weather.

The beauty jumped in fright every time a car zoomed past and she scurried away from people lest anyone off duty from the hospital might spot her and drag her back or worse. She wasn't going back, the beauty had told herself determinedly as she trekked through the back way alleys away from the main thoroughfares that flowed with people.

Years holed up in a tiny cell without companionship, or one visitor, or even more than a few words; cast away from the world as broken and forgotten and useless steeled a desperation in her that hardened a resolve past anything she had ever known. She would die before suffering that terrible fate again; that was a promise.

Shaking her head sagely, the beauty shook off that particular desperate measure as she carefully picked her way down another litter and rain splattered alleyway. No, if what Jefferson said was true then this Mr. Gold could protect her from ever going back to that wretched place or the woman he said had played a hand in locking her away for so long.

Yet how was she to locate him; this auspicious Mr. Gold? Jefferson had other secretive matters to attended to, leaving her to fend for herself in finding the shop of one Mr. Gold in a town that she had no clue where to begin her search!

A frustrated cry burst angrily from Anna lips as she hunkered down on a set of cement stairs at the back of a business. She ran a hand halfway through her tangled mess of rich maple brown hair that hadn't seen a comb in years and stifled a dark curse from spitting vilely from her mouth.

Three hours of wandering about and she didn't even know if she was close to his shop! The one person she had deigned to ask, a small, surly man with a scruffy black beard who reeked heavily of cheep spirits had only scowled at the name, like he had been insulted, as he stared at Anna strangely as if he might have recognized her; causing the beauty to run off in sheer fright.

There was no way she was going to take another chance like that again, but what could she do?

"Hey, you alright?" A curious voice asked behind Anna startling her from her dire reprieve.

The escaped beauty scrambled frantically from the steps and turned about all in the same motion to see a tall, black haired woman with bright streaks of crimson mingling in her onyx tresses and wearing a small apron around her waist staring at her in concern and surprise.

"S-s-s-sorry, I was only resting…I didn't know I wasn't allowed back here." The beauty stuttered apologetically, slowly backing away as though the woman before her was a ravenous wolf.

Ruby smiled disarmingly as she made a calming motion with her hands as if she could smell the fear radiating from the ragged woman. "Take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you. No offense, but you look a little worse for wear. Everything alright?"

"Sort of." Anna dodged timidly as she twisted her fingers nervously. The young lady before her seemed kind enough, but she wasn't about to start trusting everyone she ran into.

A small, pitying smile pecked at Ruby's glossy crimson lips as she fully opened the back door to the restaurant. "I'm Ruby. Don't look so scared; I don't bite. It's just the last time I found someone back here it kind of freaked me out." She admitted with a roll of her eyes and uttering a gentle laugh that slightly calmed the beauty.

"Annabelle. I'm Annabelle." The escaped woman replied mildly as she still peered at Ruby cautiously. It felt so strange, yet in a mildly pleasant way to speak her name that hadn't passed from her lips in a very long time.

The scarlet clad waitress suddenly turned her head around back inside the building. "Hey Granny, come here for a second." She hollered, startling Anna all over again.

At the words the beauty visibly flinched, her eyes looking for a quick escape down the narrow wet and muck filled alleyways to flee from the woman before her.

The scarlet server laughed disarmingly as she made a stopping gesture towards the beauty. "No don't be scared, my Granny's is the owner. She sweet and she'll no what to do for you. No offense but by the looks of you…" The crimson clad waitress kindly let the words drops though proffered her hand to Anna's scraggly form as echoing footsteps neared.

In moments another woman, short and plump but with a warm homey face of a grandmother and silver hair wrapped up in a neat graying bun appeared next to Ruby. Her mouth was pursed shrewdly, as if she looked about to chastise her red garbed ward when she spotted Anna all but trembling.

Immediately her stern façade shifted when she saw Anna standing like a deer caught by hunters in the back of the diner. "Oh hello there, where'd you come from?"

"I…I can't tell you." Anna admitted in a soft whisper that only Ruby, with her oddly extra ordinary hearing, could catch.

The elderly woman smiled tenderly and jerked her head back into the diner. "Well if'n you're hunger we serve some of the best grub in town. You can get something to eat and calm down a bit." The hoary haired woman offered graciously.

"I don't have any money for food." The beauty revealed embarrassedly with a hint of pink blush glowing upon her cheeks. Now that that little fact was in the open, the escaped inmate fully expecting them to shoo her away.

"I didn't expect you to pay, dear." Granny replied with a small laugh as she beckoned to the straggly threadbare Anna who blinked at the kind pair owlishly as if not comprehending.

Once inside and halfway through a cheeseburger and a healthy heaping of fries, that was by far superior in every way to the unidentified gray mush of the hospital that she devoured day in and day out without a hint of change, the beauty began opening up to the kind pair as they slowly pried her shields of fear away.

"So let me see if this is right." Ruby began as she absently wiped off the counter. "You have lived in Storybrooke for a long time but don't know you're way around very well. You're running from some one or something, so you're just wandering about?"

Anna nodded as she swallowed another bite of food. "That about sums it up." She replied.

Even though she immediately had taken a liking to Ruby and her granny, she was still too wary to relate any of the major details to them, but merely tiptoed and skirted along the facts to give them a general idea of her situation.

"So you don't have a home or anything?" Granny inquired as she passed the ragged figure a white mug of steaming coffee.

Anna merely shook her head as she picked absently at the meal. She vaguely remembered her father, but she hadn't seen him in years, and besides he had been the one to admit her.

The pair of workers shared a knowing glance towards one another when they assumed Anna wasn't looking, before excusing themselves into the kitchen.

Even while sloshing the last of her fries through a puddle of ketchup, the beauty had an ear out listening to the pair, even though they spoke in hushed tones, just in case she need to dash.

"What are we going to do about her?" Ruby asked in a mild whisper.

The griddle sizzling fiercely in the kitchen, muffled the words a bit, but Anna caught them without to much trouble.

Granny offered a gusty sigh which Anna imagined she put her hands on her hips in bewilderment. "What can we do, Ruby?"

"I don't know but we can't simply let her up and leave." The scarlet server protested. "She has no money, home, job, or any identification. I'm not even sure she could give us a last name if we asked!"

"She's scared; probably running too." Granny replied in a sagely wise tone to calm the vehement Ruby down. "That's to be expected."

Anna swore she nearly heard Ruby let out a feral growl as she banged her fist on some cutlery laden counter causing it to jangle. "Well we can't just let her go!" Ruby proclaimed before lowering her voice.

"I know. We can't make her stay if she doesn't want to; she's a grown woman, but I have a plan." Granny stated before her whispered grew sullen. "Poor thing she looks as though she's had it rough for a long time."

Years to be exact, Anna grimaced at the thought as she nibbled on the remaining bit of the hamburger laying in front of her before the pair walked back in.

Granny flashed the haggard beauty a knowing wink that she had already figured out Anna had caught most of the conversation as she leaned her elbows against the counter smiling amiably. "We're not prying folk, dear, but we cant help but notice your… complicated situation. We always have a spare room in the small hotel we keep and Ruby could always use another set of hands serving the customers; you know just in case you're looking for an adequate _safe _place to stay." Granny offered nonchalantly in a sly careless tone, but even so the words shocked the escaped beauty.

That was more than she had ever expected from anyone she had just met. Did she look so desperate and pathetic as to evoke that kind of pity from strangers?

The remnants of the burger clattered to the plate, jolting Anna out of her awed contemplations as she shook the surprise away and flashed a wane smile. "Thanks, but I have a little plan to straighten things out. I have to find a man named Mr. Gold."

At that, both Ruby and Granny froze like stone statues at the name as if struck across their faces. The air seemed to grow cold and untrustworthy around them at the mere mention of such a title.

"Gold?" Ruby spat the name like fetid bile even though it was a question.

"Is there something wrong about Mr. Gold?" Anna asked vexed as she looked at the pair peculiarly.

Granny and Ruby shot wary incorrigible glances at the other then back to Anna dourly. "He's not the nicest man in town, Hun." Ruby replied at length, her voice lowered. "I know you want your privacy, but if you're in deep enough trouble to go to Gold, maybe Emma needs to get involved."

Emma? The beauty pondered about the name, but tucked it away for later as her brow knit curiously. "Is he truly that bad, this Mr. Gold?"

"Let's put it this way, if I had to ride in a car with Mr. Gold or the devil I'd be halfway to hell by now." Ruby remarked with an angry snort that brimmed with distaste.

The words sent clanging alarm bells through the beauty's mind, even though her face remained stalwartly neutral. Ruby seemed like the person to get along with everyone; she was just that type of person, so what made her so wary…afraid even, about this Mr. Gold?

"I still have to find him. It's very important that I do." Anna replied determinedly though she would be lying if she didn't say the words of Ruby and the looks of fear and anger didn't frighten her in the least.

A defeated sigh echoed from Granny's lips as she shook her head pityingly as if Anna were about to do something extremely foolish. Ruby began to protest, but the elderly woman silenced her with a quick wave of the hand. "Alright, but just remember our offer still stands if you find yourself in a bind."

"Thank you. I will remember." Anna smiled faintly as she finished her meal yet much more anxiously.

~8~8~

Well there it was, Anna sighed as she stared at the run down pawn shop nestled all by its lonesome on a street corner as if the other shops leaned away from it. The sign, crafted with big bright yellow letter of 'Gold's Pawnshop' hesitantly swung overhead and creaked with the bitter wind as she stared ponderously at the door.

Granny's patient directions were spot on, along with the warning that rang in her ears about the 'not nice' Mr. Gold. Anna had a peculiar feeling they wanted to say far more than that, but refrained from speaking too ill of him as if he might have been hiding somewhere listening to their less than pleasant comments.

Jefferson had assured her that Mr. Gold would help, and keep her safe from harm, yet Granny had offered her safety and shelter and even a job.

One should have far outweighed the other, but here she stood as if drawn to the building and the man within like some intangible tether was drawing her to whoever resided inside the old building.

With a steadying breath, the beauty, put her hand on the latch and closed her azure eyes once as if praying to whatever deity deemed to listen. "Do the brave thing and bravery will follow." She recited calmly in some ancient mantra as she steeled her nerve and opened the door…


	2. Reunited

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Much love and hugs to all! :3_

**~8~8~**

After so many long decades of living in such a strange land without magic, there the last weapon against the curse sat resting in front of him again. For Mr. Gold, the egg fashioned chest looked the same as when he'd first conjured it into being inside the Dark Castle with exactly this moment in mind and what it represented for him.

A grim smile tugged upon Mr. Gold's thin lips as his rough wiry hands stole across the golden egg shaped chest that was richly adorned with enchanted rubies and emeralds encrusted in meandering patterns about the molded gold container.

The little light from the gray outside filtering through the grimy drawn curtains and dirty windows of his shop cast the prized item in a dusty haze as the former fiend handled it with the utmost care.

The metal and gems were still warm even after an hour of being out of the slain Maelifiecent's belly of boiling flames that had only made the gold layered filigree upon the oval shaped chest sheen even brighter.

Snatching up an old wardrobe looking key that rested upon the shop counter, the usual grisly business man wasted no time in slipping it delicately through the lock and turning it slowly till the knowing click was heard that caused his heart to thud in nervous expectation.

His hands slightly trembled in excitement as he creaked open the enchanted egg to see the vial filled of glowing purple magic lying upon the lavish silken bed of red fabric exactly as it had been those long years ago.

True Love; the most powerful magic in all the known realms. A frown dipped at the edge of his lips whilst his sable eyes searched the lavender hued concoction and his fingers roved down the cold glass bottle. The words were bitter sweet to recall as the fiend remembered his little chat after the unwarranted duel with an angry Prince James; lost in the darkened glades of the infinite forest.

What did he know of true love? Beast do not, _cannot, _love or so the legends spoke_._ Monsters were shunned and feared and respected for their powers even, but not thought kindly or tenderly of by lovely princesses with good hearts who had been sold away from their homes to a life of slavery with a beast.

Still, despite the tales of old, he had loved and had been loved in return though he had never deserved such. True Love was not a foreign concept to him, even though he would be a fool to say he knew everything about it.

What he did know he had learned the hardest way that left a pain that would never ease inside his soul. It was wonderful, all consuming in every possible pleasant way that anyone could ever feel, and when it was ripped away it left nothing but a smoldering heap of ash where a heart used to beat and a bloody scarred wounds never to mend no matter how many years passed away into eternity.

There was no way to balm the eternal ache that he felt voided in what little remained of his black heart as he had loved and eventually lost…no, he reprimanded himself fiercely with a muttered curse, let go of his love.

There was never a day he went without thinking once of her, or wishing for her company or even to hear her bright merry laugh echoing around once more.

He would have given all he owned to simply see her soft warm smile once more instead of dreaming of it every night for the last 30 years as he would the rest of his days.

For a moment the business man closed his dark eyes, his breath unsteady as his heart lurched at the consuming, agonizing thought of his true love that swarmed mercilessly in his mind_. _Belle, his wonderful Belle that he had cast away to die at the hands of the people she sold herself to protect.

He still remembered that one horrid night where he thought his emotions would burst in utter jubilation that she had chosen her home with him, only to have it come crashing down as she dared to show her caring for him with that one simple gesture of a kiss.

And when Regina had so joyously related the gruesome tale of her demise-. No, Mr. Gold shook his head in a scolding manner, forcing the thoughts away. Now was not the time to go down that painful road, not when he had other matters to see to; matters that he could fix with another that he loved and had as well let go.

Using all his will, the Dark One banished the heart wrenching memories away as he picked up the glass vial to inspect it. The sparkling amethyst fluid like substance within still stirred and emanated strong magic that tingled against Gold's senses as the familiar feel of magic came back unbidden to burn through his black blood and race eagerly under his flesh like the days of old.

A small, victorious smirk played upon his lips as he looked at a small bit of his reflection in the glass. "I'll find you, Bae." He stated aloud with a slight nod. "Soon son; I promise."

The jarred clang of the bell above the shop door that clattered sonorously in its jangling ring was the only thing that jerked the fiend out of his inward repose of family lost at his cowardice.

Frowning once more, the business man quickly slipped the vial into this black suit pocket and tucked the grandly ornamented oval chest inside a normal wooden box as he fought to regain his usual cold composure.

The place was very junky Anna noticed as she first entered into the dank pawnshop. Piles of old, dust layered, knick knacks lay strewn in every conceivable direction without rhyme or reason in one grimy mess that had the escaped beauty with a sudden urge to grab a duster even though she wasn't quite certain why.

Pushing tendril of maple chestnut curls behind her ear, the beauty shook the thought away as she padded cautiously through the small annex of hoarded antiques.

As she stepped into the main area of the shop, Anna paused nervously, her azure eyes instantly pin pointing a man with straggly dirty brown hair that was faced away from her and tinkering with an old chest.

A gold handeled cane, crafted in the shape of a hawks beak, was hooked nearby on the counter; telling the escaped woman he had some sort of injury.

"E-excuse me, are you Mr. Gold?" Anna inquired meekly as the rueful warnings from Ruby and Granny reared their ugly heads once more.

That was a stupid question, Gold reasoned with a small distasteful snort. Everyone in town knew who he was and feared him for his infamous reputation. "Yes I am." He chuckled mirthlessly in a dry touch of amusement.

The voice sounded so familiar, but where had he heard it before? Deciding to discard the nagging thought away, the fiend snatched up his cane and limped about trying to be his most detached pleasant self to shoo the unwanted away quickly. "Apologies, but I'm afraid the shops clo-."

Could the entire world literally be ripped from under someone in less than a heartbeat to send them tumbling into a mind shattering void of astonishment?

For Mr. Gold the time itself paused it eternal trek as he stared in shock and awe at the haggard slowly staggering figure before him. The businessman was extremely grateful he'd had the sense to drop the crystal bottle into his pocket; for he was most assured it would have fallen to the floor from his numbed grip and shattered had he been still grasping it.

His ebony orbs widened in sheer surprise as his jaw swung open numbly at the specter he thought never to see again scuffling towards him in the dim, dusty light as some wraith clawed up from the cold earth of old.

She couldn't be real. It simply had to be a trick, a conjuration, his sanity finally and utterly shattered, or a bit of magic Regina saved for a rainy day to thwart him somehow?

How could she…? It wasn't possible! Belle, his lovely Belle returned from the ashes of a pyre in the middle of the king's forest.

Was she a phoenix, an angel, a ghost? Why had she appeared to stand before him?

"I…I was told to find you." Anna stammered hesitantly towards the frozen Mr. Gold whose features had turned ashen, as she neared him. She couldn't help but notice his utter shock as though a ghost had materialized before him. "H-he told me to tell you that Regina locked me up. Does that mean anything to you? Is it important?"

Important? The word would have made him laugh if his emotions weren't all raging and roiling inside trying to vie for dominance inside the cold embers of his heart that were beginning to spark with fire once more.

His throat tightened with a hard lump that wobbled in the middle of his throat as his sable eyes searched her frantically. A trembling hand that felt discontented from his body reached out to grab her shoulder to feel real, warm, solid flesh beneath his touch instead of some magic or fog he half expected his hand to paw through.

"Y-you…you're real. I…I can't believe it. You're alive after all these years." The businessman whispered astonished as if some loud noise would awake him from whatever dream he had stumbled into that claimed his sensibilities.

She was ragged, with an uncombed mess of maple amber hair and ratty clothes that had seen far better days, but from her russet honey tresses, to the glimmering cerulean of her eyes there was nothing un-Belle about her.

Under the collar of the threadbare jacket she had wrapped tightly about her thin form, to ward off the chill of rain, and some sort of gray dress, he could see an upraised scar that circled about her neck as if something had been clamped tightly about there for a very long time.

His finger tips tremulously brushed against the thin fleshy scars about her neck making Anna cast wary glances at the obviously rich business man, but remained prone. "She did this. She's responsible for this misery cast upon you." He muttered more to himself than to her.

A hard glint of steel, forged in an inferno, interwove with his ebony orbs at the very mention of that craven Regina. How could she have done this and gotten away with it?

Belle's azure glance fell to the business mans worn hand that rested upon her shoulder as a pleasant shudder ran up her spine. Why was it she felt her stomach fluttering and her heart pounding when his touch met her? "I was told you'd protect me from going back to the hospital and from the woman who had me put there. W-will you?" She asked waveringly, hoping, praying for some assurance that Jefferson's words rang true.

"Oh yes." Came the immediate reply torn from Mr. Gold's choked throat. His ebony orbs blinked back the misty press of tears as he wrapped his arms tightly about her; determined never to let her get away again. "Yes I'll protect you with my life. Oh Belle, I'm sorry I'm so, so sorry."

Belle, his Belle! Close and real and alive!

"Belle?" The beauty echoed confused; only her father had called her that when she was a little girl in what seemed like a lifetime ago. Her delicate brow knit furtively as she pushed away slightly from his tight grip that clung to her in possessive desperation. "Do I know you…?"

Gold backed up a pace; forcing himself to remember where he was and what job he had to do. This wasn't an enchanted forest this was Storybrooke Maine were an entire town was caught in the tangled web of a sordid curse.

Regret flashed sorrowfully on his rough features as he swallowed down the words he'd been about to proclaim to her in a hard knot of apology. A sad smile bloomed over his scraggly features as he shook his head. "Not yet. But you will, and when you do know that I beg your forgiveness…"

Those words, though gently spoken sat uncomfortable with Anna. What did he need to be forgiven for? With a watery smile the beauty nodded weakly in reply trying to push the unease away. Even though she had only just met him there was a small amount of trust with him that she couldn't explain; perhaps born of her desperation and whatever strange emotions she sparked to life in him?

For a moment it looked at is the business man desired to say more to her. His eyes riveted upon her as though he couldn't comprehend her existence.

"Well, I suppose you have a lot of questions." Mr. Gold finally managed to say as he forced himself to concentrate on his task. "I promise they will all be answered in due time, but first we need to go someplace."

More riddles? Anna grimaced involuntarily at the shrouded answer laced in mystery as she shook her head. "Go where?"

"You'll know soon enough." Gold replied assiduously as he snatched his jacket from a coat hanger and swiped a large set of keys from the business counter.

"That's not good enough." The beauty protested indomitably as she followed the limping Gold to the back of the shop; her frustration now thoroughly at the head. "First Jefferson, now you with all the cryptic words. I want to know what's going on."

A small, genuine grin listed upon Gold's worn features for what felt like the first time in years. There was no doubt that was Belle, always curious and never very off put or afraid of him for very long no matter what form he was in. She probably didn't even know she was acting as such, the fiend considered with a small chuckle as he closed up the shops back door and made sure it was secure.

Leading her through the damp alleyway towards his car, Gold hobbled along pondering what exactly he could explain to his Belle without having her run off in terror. How could one very well explain a witch had taken a whole world into another without magic and he was about to bring magic back without her possibly thinking him stark, raving mad?

"Trust me, by the end of the night you'll know everything and see why sticking close to me is your best option, Dearie." He retorted with a hint of mischievousness lacing his usually cold timbre.

"Trust you?" Anna echoed as she hopped into the passenger seat of the sleek, black luxury car.

The thought that here she was getting into a car with a man she had just met and led to him by a man she had only known for a few minutes suddenly dawned on the beauty making her inwardly wonder was her mind truly broken as the nurses as long claimed it was.

Looking back, there was more desperation than trust with Jefferson, but with Mr. Gold there was something different at play that made her willingly follow him. "I'll be honest Mr. Gold, I do trust you and I'm not exactly sure why. From what some people have told me, you aren't one to be trusted, though."

"That's certainly true enough in some cases." He admitted with an amused snort as he dipped inside the car. Turning towards her, his usually marble black gaze softened to something warm as he smiled querulously. "But you have my word you can trust me. I'll protect you no matter what comes."

His words, so tender and heartfelt warmed Anna like nothing she could recall in all her years. It was as if he had put a shield of safety over her to thwart any malice aimed her way; promising her a safety she had long coveted.

As the sleek vehicle rumbled to life and sloshed out of the sopping alleyway from behind the shop, Anna turned her head away from him pretending to stare out the window to hide the involuntarily blush that fevered through her cheeks.

As her breath misted upon the glass, the beauty drew her delicate finger through the fog her thoughts wandering curiously about where exactly they were headed and how exactly did this Mr. Gold know her when she could recall nothing of him.

~8~8~

The vast tracts of forest that sprawled on the very outskirts of the town proper sat akin to an impenetrable wall that blocked the town from the outside world. The endless undergrowth of greenery interwoven with the towering trees was beauty incarnate to Anna's dulled gray senses that had seen nothing but the iron gray of cement and off white of padded walls, as Mr. Gold's luxury car zoomed like an arrow down the deserted winding roads.

Even taking in the gorgeous sight of growth and blooming and life they sped past, the beauty caught the businessman casting precocious glances towards her more than once. His hard sable eyes stared at her intensely before he would shake his head and concentrate upon the asphalt, his brow furrowed ponderously as if lost in some deep repose.

"Here we are." Gold stated as the car rolled to a gravely stop at the edge of a long stretch of deserted highway that seemed to lead on forever amidst the endless acres of darkened forest.

"W-what are we doing here?" The beauty inquired, vexed as Gold limped out and opened the car door for her.

The air had gotten muggier, and the clouds above a darker charcoal gray that promised trouble sooner than was foretold. Beyond that there seemed to be some force that hummed through the air; something that Anna couldn't explain past a prickling tingling sensation that made Goosebumps rise on her pale flesh and cause a series of faint shivers to crawl up her spine. Something was afoot, she was sure of that much.

The end of Gold's ash wood cane thumped dully against the loamy earth as the pair began to meld into the vibrant greenery of the forest and on to a faint trail meandering deeper into the darkened glades that had been worn by years of use and misuse.

"You could say cashing in on an insurance policy." He quipped dryly as he swatted his gold tipped cane at the encroaching shrubbery that fell across the small deer path. "You might also say I'm weaving a bit of fate into this boring little town."

Belle shook her head mildly as she tracked close behind the well tailored businessman. They beauty was wary to even take one step off the beaten path lest even that turn into a disaster. A small, tired and exasperated sigh escaped her lips as she rolled her eyes at his words. "Why can no one give me straight answer! Is everyone in this town so cryptic and mysterious?"

A bellowing laugh that echoed about the forest and disrupted a few nearby robins, and mildly startled Anna more from the fact that it burst from the grim faced, stoic, Mr. Gold than anything else.

The pawn broker turned back once, his eyes alight in fiendish merriment. "You have absolutely no idea, Dearie."

That at least, pulled a small grin from his Belle, and for a moment the whole world seemed to brighten for the auspicious Mr. Gold.

They walked in silence for a time, the only sound of chirping birds that flittered from their lofty perches in the trees and the sound of leaves crunching underfoot as both combed over their separate thoughts. How he had missed that simple gesture.

Why would he help her? So far as Anna knew he didn't even know her? But when she stared into his ebony orbs she saw a familiarity, a tenderness that belayed a knowing deeper than she ever thought.

The pair marched under the canopies of towering trees for what seemed like an hour, delving deeper into a shrouded plane of secrets layered under the quiet hamlet of Storybrooke.

Belle was almost considering to demand to know where they were headed when she felt a warm pulse race though her body akin to a warm summer zephyr.

The beauty halted dead in her tracts, her azure eyes wide as memories from her true life flooded back into her mind as though she had been struck by lightening. Unbidden, the last moment of her dream before Jefferson had ripped her from the realm of nightmare came back to the forefront of her mind when she had open her mouth and the blackness had recoiled. His name…

"Wait." Anna breathed in a whisper so low it was nearly undetectable. The beauty's heart pounded in a rapid tempo at the sudden regained memories surging through her. She might have moved to stand closer to him, but she wasn't certain her knees wouldn't give way at the force.

The fiend looked back for a moment, concern etched across his face. "It's only a bit further. We're very close." He assured her gently with a small nod. Once his goal was met he could protect her properly.

He didn't wait for a response but began his painful limping trek up the path. The knowledge of being so close to his destination blared through his mind so clearly that he could almost taste the bitter waters that lapped below them.

"Rum." Belle stated his name freely with out a shadow of doubt; her voice tight and strained with emotion.

It was him even though there was no gray-gold flesh of shimmering scales adorning his skin. There was no high pitched, careless falsetto, or impish giggle, but it was him just the same.

How many years, nights, days had she long to see him? That she had wept in the late hours of the night in writhing pain; wishing he would come to rescue her and whisk her away back to the Dark Castle. And now he was there standing a few feet in front of her.

The fiend went rigid upon hearing his endearing nickname uttered from her lush lips. She was the only one who called him that; a special little moniker given to him in the Dark Castle.

It seemed as though he had to gather all his strength simply to turn back to her and walk those few tenuous steps closer.

"I…I remember everything." She revealed, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears that sparkled like gems in her cobalt orbs. "I remember you."

_Everything, _the word struck the fiend like a blow to the gut, twisting his insides without clemency. The anger, the hurt, the banishment, and shunning her to whatever fate she had met for those long years he thought her dead. She remembered the pain, the heart ache, and the cruel words spoken when he let her go from his dungeon.

His head tiled down sorrowfully, expecting to be bombarded with hate and accusation which he rightly deserved and more. He only wished he'd had a little more time with his Belle; to be close and touch her before the memories were put back into place and the utter loathing for him flared to life.

"I love you." She stated so clearly, that it very nearly rocked the businessman back in astonishment. The beauty had waited years to speak those three words one more time, and she wasn't about to let the chance go now that he was so close.

Blinking in total surprise, Rum tried hard to actually make sense of what words she had so uttered. Had he heard her spoken words correctly? Love? Him? After all that had transpired?

"You…you…" He stammered stupidly, his mind unable to form a cognizant phrase. " Still? After all I have done?"

A soft smiled mingled with her tears etched upon her lovely, pale features as she neared him. "I never stopped loving you, Rumpelstiltskin. Never."

This time he couldn't halt the tears no matter what he did to dam them away. They fell down his scruffy cheeks in hot salty drops as he wrapped his lanky arms about her in a monolithic hug that pressed her tightly against his body. "And I love you, Belle-of-mine. I love you and I was a cowardly fool to reject your love and deny my own. You were right. Everything you told me that day, craven that I was, came to pass."

He had so much to say, so many apologies to make and rights to wrong, but the moment, even though he whished with all his being could last for eternity, had to end far quicker than he desired. If she had her memories back that meant that the insufferable Sheriff, Swann, had partly broken the curse.

War was about to come upon the small province of Storybrooke, a war that would decide the fate of their world and if the rest of the folk below in the sleepy little town would remain under Regina's iron heel.

"You have no idea how much I've longed for you again. To say I'm sorry; to redeem my foolishness." He whispered hoarsely as he bared his raw soul to her.

Her russet curls tickled as they wisped about his face and for a moment he smelled the fragrance of sweet honey suckle that took him back to a wonderful time in the Dark Castle. "But hey, there'll be time for that." He promised as she pulled away. His wiry hand combed through her amber honey locks as he stared lovingly into her cobalt orbs. "There will be time for everything after I finish what I came here to do."

Seeing the steeled determination in his onyx eyes, the beauty merely nodded as she wiped away the brook of tears from her cheek and smiled so lovingly at him, the businessman truly had to fight the instinct to hold her close again.

With that both beauty and beast turned back towards the snaking path, hands clasped together as the trekked onward.

~8~8~

By now the fiend could very well imagine that people were beginning to stir from their shock of regaining their past lives as he and his Belle finally arrived to their distant destination amidst the shrouded forest.

"What is this place?" Belle asked as the pair entered a coppice of dark pines that surrounded a stone well standing in the center like some heathen altar of old.

"This is a very special place, Belle." He admitted in a small whisper as he regretfully released his grip from hers, and limped doggedly towards the well. "There is a legend about this well in this world that it can return something that was once lost."

As Belle padded to stand beside him the fiend slipped the vial out of his pocket and hefted it towards the shafts of somber light that slipped through the trees. The lilac concoction glimmered and sparkled as he uncorked it and let it plunge into the recesses of the swiftly moving waters below with a loud _kerplunk _that echoed ominously from around the stony walls.

A musty, mold rank wind that sent shivers crawling up Belle's spine heaved up from the stony well and whispered past their faces, for a moment revealing a bit of gray at the fringes of Rum's hair and danced amidst her russet tresses.

Billows of amethyst fog began to vomit from the well, crawling and climbing upwards to spread over the ground like some misty blight that felt akin to spider webs smoothing past her skin.

"I don't understand." Belle admitted as she stepped closer to Rum to ward off the tainted feeling oozing from the lavender hued smoke that skitter and crawled like a ravenous demon clawing out of the belly of hell.

Gold wrapped an arm about her shoulder protectively, calming the beauty somewhat as she nestled closer to him. "This land we were cursed upon is a land without magic or magic that we can tap into. I'm brining magic from our world here."

"Why?" Belle inquired lowly, having a sinking feeling deep in her gut as she felt the sensation of magic curl and climb upon them as the lilac tinted storm began to rumble and grow like some slumbering behemoth just come awake.

"Why?" Rum echoed with a slight laugh and a sinister feral grin that Belle would have known anywhere. "Because magic is power, and if we're going to survive this war we need all the power we can possibly get."

Her azure orbs scanned the mass of purple cloud roiling now about them and storming towards the town at a thunderous pace. "You'll have magic again." She concluded in a hoarse whisper more to herself that to him.

On a sudden instinct the beauty placed her hand upon his cheek, turning his face and pressed her lips against his own in a hard, owning kiss born of desperation and want.

Her breath came out haggard as she parted from him all too soon as the purple shrouds began to ensorcelled them in its amethyst claws. "If you must become the Dark One again then at least I will have that kiss with no regrets." She explained as she fell closer with him and entwined her hands with his own.

The fiend threaded his fingers through the mess of chestnut curls as he brought her chin up meet him face to face. He kissed her again, with a tenderness that held testament to his love regained, and oh could there be a sweeter nectar found in all the worlds compared to the honeyed softness of her lips?

Yes, there was that regret, but it was a sacrifice that had to be dealt with until Regina lay at a bloody heap at his feet and his son reclaimed, and until he could figure out how to have his love and power. For, of course, no matter in what world he dwelled, Rumpelstiltskin was the Dark One still.


	3. Granny's Diner

_A/N: Yay I can work on this story now! Quick note; classes start for me today so the chapters might be a tad erratic in popping up. Anyhow thanks for reading and reviewing!_

**~8~8~**

"So this where the curse brought us." Belle observed soberly as her azure eyes intriguingly scanned the neat deserted streets of Storybrooke.

The small town, under the blanket of forlorn leaden gray sky, sat quiet as a crypt with only the wind whistling through apertures and rustling old fall leaves scudding or swirling across the pavement to aid in any noise.

Cars sat deserted and forgotten in the middle of the road, but not crashed and burning and some still running with their engines rumbling quietly. Shop doors had been left ajar, but no looters had come to despoil or steal valuable merchandise, and no broken glass or kicked in doors seemed to be evident anywhere they strode by.

They strolled by the school yard on their way back to the heart of the small hamlet, only to be met with the slowly screeching noise of empty swings instead of laughing young ones playing chase and shrieking in fun.

To one newly arrived in the small, backwoods county, it would have seemed of rapture like desolation.

Despite the tragedy layered under the stones and shops, it was a nice little shire, Belle noted with that always indomitable silver glimmer of optimism she possessed no matter how harrowing the situation.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded absently in reply, his features oddly grim and deep in this human form that Belle couldn't quite get used to. "Indeed." He replied simply, his thoughts and mind elsewhere crafting and designs and dismissing plans. Plans for finding Baelfire, and also plans for revenge.

For 28 years he had lived under abject misery in the dark, everlasting shadowed memory of Belle's cruel, unjust demise. He had beaten her father into a concussion over the troublesome memories that plagued him and had long ago killed the haughty clerics and shaman that had seemingly played a hand in her destruction. Had they deserved it, or had they not played a hand in her torment at all? It had been so long ago, so long since he had relished their screams as a small payment for what they had done to his Belle.

He carried his cane tucked under one arm, while his Belle clung to the other as they trekked through the quite province. Some moments he could still barely believe she was present and alive beside him; real and as solid as the last day he'd seen her at the threshold of the Dark Castle.

At times he'd stop and touch her porcelain face gently with his wiry fingers, faintly brushing back a lock of her russet tresses, or wrap her lovingly in his arms, always whispering and begging his apologies for her forgiveness. He could beg on his hands and knees for a thousand years, and still he thought it would never be enough to show her just how sorry he was.

Shrugging the dire thoughts or revenge and morose away and the press of magic once again trying to worm its way in the hierarchy of his mind, Rum shook his head slightly and offered a quiet chuckle as he flourished his fingers through the air. "Truth be told, I was expecting chaos in the streets. Buildings aflame, screams that seemed to spring from thick curtains of black smoke, guns firing randomly into pitching masses."

"The villagers of Storybrooke are too smart to give into panic?" The dark amber haired beauty arched a delicate brow.

At that, the restored fiend gave a hearty laugh and pulled his precious love close to kiss her once more on the top of her dull copper hued locks. "No, no, Belle-of-mine. They're far to frightened to panic. After all only thirty minutes ago everyone in this town realized the life they thought they lived, the people they thought they knew, the places they thought they'd been was all a lie."

"Where is everyone anyway?" She queried abruptly while watching a stray dog dart across the road, his tail tucked between his legs as though holding testament to Rum's perceptive comment.

"My guess." The business man turned a corner where, between the messes of cars abandoned on the streets, a buttercup yellow bug seemed to stand out like a golden ray amidst the gray, soggy day. He pointed his cane to the vehicle then towards the blinking red neon sign of Granny's diner. "Where ever we see that car…"

The noise in Granny's diner was nearly deafening. Citizens newly awakened of their old memories had gathered to the restaurant as though pulled their by some unknown tether that subconsciously coaxed them to that one destination. Perhaps it was simply the magic that radiated of Emma Swann like a beam of light on a moonless night, giving them something to follow in their shock and fear.

Every notable along with those merely caught in the curse by circumstance had squeezed and shuffled in the homey establishment so much so that it was even hard to breath. Cutlery clinked raucously and tables that where not bolted down had been moved to make room, but still it was difficult just to slip by another body.

Everyone talked at once in a low rumble, babies cried, while others tried to locate loved ones in the crowed they had been separated from for so long.

Most all notables could be seen squashed in the masses just as everyone else, though the people seemed to remember their monarchs and rulers and gave them a small berth of space and respect.

Weapons of axes, hammers, spades, kitchen knives and a quiet a few guns all lay close at hand to everyone that entered, and were constantly being pawed at and fingered in nervousness. While they were not panicking, they were most certainly not ill prepared to become such should their shock be rippled towards the throes of hysteria.

"People are going to recognize you if you go in there." Belle whispered to Rum worriedly. Even hiding in the shadows across the street the pair could hear the ruckus, and all the windows had been open to clearly display the inside.

Now that everyone had their memories back, the beauty was dubious her Rum would get a warm welcome, unless torches and burning at the stake qualified as 'warm'.

The Dark One smiled slyly at her. "Always a perceptive one aren't you?" He lightly kissed her temple to assuage her worry. "I have magic now, remember."

Now that he had magic back and had exclaimed his love, he could protect her and himself better than ever before with out denial or excuses.

With that he twiddled his fingers through the muggy air, bringing forth the sickly sweet fragrance of his magic, long bereft in his blood, and a fog of dark amethyst encircling them.

While he had been years out of practice with the magic void of his control and lying in stasis inside, the spells and conjurations came back as fresh as the day he had first began to weave the dark forces.

Even though Belle hated to admit it as the magic rolled over their respective forms, the feel of his magic's was a welcome to steady her mind and bring back a comfort she had long missed. It brought memories of the Dark Castle flooding back and the rare kind uses her master put his powers to task at.

"There." Rum beamed victoriously as he fanned his hand in the air, getting rid of the last wisp of lilac power. "No one will notice us though we will be insight of everyone."

The slight clatter of the bell on top of the door jingled again as another troupe of people wandered inside.

Rum, chuckled, sounding very much how it had in the Dark Castle, as he took Belle's arm in his own. "Let's go. Anymore people go in and I fear there will be no more room for anyone." He observed amusingly.

The beauty only giggled softly and crinkled her nose in reply to his quips. Oh she had missed him, her Rum. She had craved everything about him while being away and gone, his gray gold skin, his onyx eyes, his high pitched giggle, and yes even his magic.

The reused air in the cramped diner was stiflingly hot as the pair entered. Overhead the bell pealed out again merrily, but no one gave the newcomers something more than a cursory glance.

Fear rumbled in the beauty's chest at the feeling of claustrophobia over taking her in its all controlling grip. 28 years stuck in a cold 5 by 5 cell, had made her disinclined for small or packed places of any sort.

The pawnbroker, paused as though feeling her fear emanating from her. Her lovely features had fallen ashen and her breath sputtering out tremulously as though it was taking all her will to breathe the scalding air.

Squeezing her hand in a comforting grip, the fiend smile reassuringly in a way that spoke of his protection of her louder than any words ever could. He would let nothing happen to her.

The look was like water to a parched man, filling Belle with desperately needed courage towards the oppressive heat and the close quarters of bodies so tightly jammed together like sardines in a tin, and practically brimming with fears and angers of their own.

With a small nod and a deep breath, focusing only on her love, she squashed the feeling of asphyxiation and terror and let him lead her to a tight spot at the back of the crowd.

"Settle down everyone." A steady female voice suddenly ordered just as the pair took their places in the cramped shadows.

Surprisingly the masses quieted like obedient dogs, each looking at the speaker with eager hope or despondent wariness.

"That's Miss Swann, the curse breaker and sheriff." Rum informed Belle in a whisper, seeing her confusion towards the addressor.

This was the second time she had heard of the sheriff, but so far she hadn't had a chance to find out so much concerning her. Though now more pieces to the puzzle were put in place.

The sheriff grimaced at the crowd as she appeared from the back of Granny's Diner. Her arms were crossed threateningly as she glared at the masses, but there was no denying the anxiousness in her eyes or in the down turned lines creasing her stoic features.

She hadn't wanted to do the talking. She hadn't wanted to step up for these people. All she wanted was to take Henry away from his psycho of an adopted mother and leave the crazy town forever. But that was impossible now, for she had broken the curse; she was joined to the magic that still fettered the town to the only world she had ever known.

In a way she felt obligated to those who had so long been banished from their homes and true lives. And in another, she felt the hot rage of injustice and utter desire to see Regina brought down to justice.

Others she had hoped would have assumed responsibility and stepped up to lead, but she found herself involuntarily taking the position until it was to late to turn back. The people looked to her for guidance, and as Mary, no, incredibly, her mother had said, they needed her more than ever.

"I know you're all confused." Emma began; her boots the only sound in the packed diner as she stalked slowly amidst the throngs. "Until a few hours ago I was to. I didn't want to believe, but the truth is undeniable. We were all teleported here by a curse thanks to the Madame Mayor."

"What do we do?" A shrill voice in the crowd cried piteously.

Another piped up. "How do we get back home?"

"What's going to happen to us?"

"Is the Mayor going to kill us?"

The grim sheriff held her hand up for silence, in addition to a feral warning growl thrumming from Ruby's throat for the questions, which were on the verge of panic, to be put on hiatus.

"We don't know yet." She turned to her parents and the others who would have been kings and queens back in their world before turning back to the crowds. "None of us do. The Madame Mayor is…smart. Who knows how far she's planned this."

"Then let's get her!" Some voice Emma thought might belong to doctor Whale roared through the stuffed restaurant.

Cheers of approval met the idea, as people, just coming out of the throes of shock were now seeking blood for the crimes done against them and the curse that had so cruelly shackled them to this fate.

"No!" A small voice exclaimed suddenly frantic.

Those who had turned to the door, with their weapons in hand and brandished murderously, faced a small ten year old boy, wielding a large storybook in his grip.

"The boy is Henry." Rum explained to his love in a whisper, seeing more confusion. "His story is rather complicated." He frowned sardonically.

The beauty merely nodded, and sidled impossibly closer to her love.

The boy's shaggy brown hair vaguely covered his face, but he blew it back and held the book up like some sacred treasure. "Look, my mom couldn't kill Emma because it might do something bad to the curse. If we do something bad to her there's no guarantee we'll make it home at all."

"Henry's right." Emma agreed as she shoved her way over to the ten year old to protect her son. A hand fingered at her gun holster just in case of trouble of an unruly crowd.

Her eyes were hard as rock as she scanned the entire crowd pitching and heaving with so many different emotions it was almost as thick as the air. "Let's not do anything that could very well damn us all."

"Then what should we do?" This time the voice came from a frail woman somewhere in the back of the crowd.

"We wait." The golden haired sheriff replied promptly, her tone not up for argument. "Go back home, make dinner for your families, and try to catch up. In the morning go to work and take your kids to school. It's business as usual till we can figure out a way to defeat Regina."

A male voice cried out defensively. "And just who are you to tell us what to do? Why should we listen to you?"

"She is the curse breaker and daughter of King James and Queen Snow, so you had best mind your tongue." Leroy snarled angrily and spun about to the man who had broached the question. "She helped us be free of our mind slavery to Regina, and is the only one who can get us back. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm following her."

A multitude of mumbling approval met the once dwarfs statement. Giving her a wink and a nod he respectfully beckoned the relieved Emma to continue.

The sheriff stood erect, like a bright light amidst the chaos and darkness and terror seized upon them. "Unfortunately we have to play the waiting game to see Regina's next move. But there will be a time when we can sort this mess out and see the Madame Mayor brought down."

"Not without my help there won't." A slightly amused voice stated nonchalantly.

Before he had even said it, Belle could feel the enchantment and magic oozing off her flesh, now making her catch the attention of all who were around.

Though the diner was full far past its max capacity, some how, those around managed to make room to back away from the devious beast they all knew - Rumpelstiltskin.

"You." Growled Emma lowly almost in a snarl of fury.

Murmurs arose like mist from the crowd as eyes wide with fear and hate eyes flew towards the comfortably standing beast and the beauty. Ashley gave a gasp of fear, holding her child close, while Shawn stood in front of her protectively with only a thick piece of timber for a weapon.

The cold steel of her gun was the only thing that reminded the fair haired sheriff not to draw her weapon in an open, packed crowd as she stomped vengefully over to Gold.

After all he had done, stealing the vial and making her loose Henry for his own sadistic purposes!

Face to face with the slightly smirking Mr. Gold, Emma fumed at him wrathfully through grit teeth and forced herself not to whip out her cuffs. "You give me one good reason why I shouldn't drag you behind this diner and shoot you like the mongrel you are; after all you've done?"

At that a few rumbles of approval were heard from the masses who equally hated the devious Rumpelstiltskin.

Mr. Gold shrugged carelessly, nonplused by her threats of execution. "Because you need me of course. Who else has the power and knowledge to help you stop her majesty?"

"And what makes you think we need anything from you." James barked, only held back by a gentle hand on his bicep by Snow.

A smile slithered upon the fiends thin lips as his eyes alight deviously. "I don't know; what do you need from me?" He turned suddenly towards the crowd and flourished his hand through the air. "Care to answer that question your majesty?"

Purple fog wove through the mass of bodies coming to one nondescript woman nestled beside a booth.

Gasps and screams of terror echoed around the diner as her flesh began to melt and drip like hot wax. The once flesh pooled unto the floor and hissed with tiny wisps of smoke winding up, leaving a foul stench in its wake; adding even more repulsion to the heated air.

All eyes widened in horror as it was no longer they woman they had seen enter, but Regina.

Behind the newly revealed vile monarch, the fiend branded a strange coiled mark into the plasters and wood of the diner. "A rather simple sigil will dispel such cloaking magic's." He explained then spared a wink Emma's way. "That little bit of information is free of charge as a show of good faith. I always like to stay on good terms with my business partners."

"Get her!" An enraged voice proclaimed.

Before people could move to seize the sorceress, a wave of darkness pulsed from the queen's outstretched hand throwing the a few blood thirsty people back into the crowd that mostly stood stiff in fear.

A smirk, hiding a flare of anger and irritation flew towards the businessman and the sheriff, but as her eyes caught another, lovely figure behind the fiend, her eyes couldn't help but widen in surprise. How had that pathetic slave girl managed to escape!

The girl in turn saw her, and immediately recognized the dark, sinister eyes that had often come to look upon her, through the slit in the iron door of her cell, as though she were some trophy or secret weapon.

Fear strangled the beauty again, making her back away as far as she possibly could from the vile monarch. Memories of torment by her hand, roused in her mind instantly. Screams as magic dug under her skin, and the cold iron of a chain tightly wrapped around her neck, and the seething whispers that constantly tried to poison her mind darted through her head in a blinding blur.

The shock flitted from Regina's face a moment later as she forced herself to remain looking slightly amused and in completely control.

"Well, it's about time someone spotted me." She uttered a mirthless chuckle and knocked a lock of midnight hair from her pale, cunning face. "Anymore time and I would have learned of your full plans."

Emma took a step forward, plainly confused. "How…"

"Magic." Rum informed her casually. "Something I have copious amounts and experience of."

"Oh and I suppose you're going to give them some form of aid to get back at me, Rumpel?" The harpy mocked callously.

A deep frown etched on the magical fiends face at the taunt but the queen merely grinned with an inward knowing her cruelty had hit home.

The wicked mayor scoffed abruptly and waved her hand dismissively through the air. "But I have more pressing concerns to attend to like squashing this pitiful excuse for a rebellion brewing under my rule."

"You don't rule anything." Emma hissed angrily; her hand clenched upon her holster.

How dare she look upon them as some sort of unruly subjects!

"Please Miss Swann do stop your childishness." Regina snorted derisively before turning her piercingly shrewd gaze to the crowd. "You all know who rules this place. You know what I can do and you know I reward those loyal to me, and punish those who seek to be…unruly. One of you asked how you get back home." She looked quizzical to the rapt masses. "Why would you want to? Back to your fields and carts and harsh winters mucking about in hovels or cold castles? Disease rife and unchecked, wars of swords and shields? My rule, my world, offers you so much more than the old. Accept my rule, or fall with this…" She skewed her ruby lips in a sneer towards Emma. "Usurper and her band of mischievous rabble."

A smile brimming with malice and cunning crossed her lips as she looked at them all with a deferent queenly grace as ebony magic spiraled around her. "The choice is yours." She ended simply and vanished in a voided cloud.

The crowd stood absolutely silent save for a few people scuffling away for the door, frantic to be away from the riffraff and rabble Regina had termed them as.

Others soon broke into jointed, shaken conversation while others speculated and pondered amongst themselves, and even a few more crept away into the gray day.

"Well, Miss Swann, I do certainly hope this is the beginning of a wonderful business future." Rumpel smiled and made a partially saluting motion with his cane.

There was no doubt now, they would need it. Regina meant for war, and she would kick and scream with tooth and nail for every part of the battle. And though it galled the business man to admit it, Regina had the distinct advantage. She was not alone, for she had friends, powerful friends, in the town that, with their memories renewed, would flock to her like carrion over a rotting corpse.

Emma eyed the pawnbroker incredulously, a brow perched as though judging his words and his uses. She hated dealing with Mr. Gold, given his twin reputations in this world and the previous, but she had to begrudgingly admit he had his uses; now more than ever with his magic in hand.

"So you'll be joining us to defeat that royal witch?" She asked as her shoulders slumped in acceptance to his words.

Rum shook his head and snorted. "Please Miss Swann, you know me well enough. I never formally take sides for anyone. Your biggest advantage is that I'll deal with you." His face darkened fiercely merely at there thought of Regina. "I, however, will have absolutely nothing to do with that pompous sorceress."

Not after she had blatantly lied to his face and what she had done to Belle. He saw the thick upraised scar encircled around his love's neck thanks to a choking collar so long fettering her. The multitude of welts and bruises he surmised were under the faded gray and thread bare clothes made his blood boil.

For a moment he turned to look at Belle; just to see her could quench the rage burning in his soul and wash over a peace he had hadn't known since she left the Dark Castle. Yet as he cast his glance towards her general direction, to his horror, he found she wasn't there…


	4. Apart

Fear, such as the fiend had known only twice in his endless years, drenched Mr. Gold in a dousing wave of cold, abject terror. Panic giddily spiraled about him in clenched vice grip akin to a pythons muscled coils squeezing his soul and mind without relent.

In front of him the masses shifted and flowed about like a rolling sea of worried and fearful bodies, yet his love was not to be found in their sweltering swarm of frightened peasantry and worrisome notable ranks.

His heart pounded like a dwarven siege hammer smashing wantonly against his chest as his dark, chocolate brown eyes searched the milling crowd franticly for his love whom he had only been reunited with those wonderful, short few hours ago. How fleeting that time seemed now that she was nowhere to be found!

Where was his Belle!

Emma's measuring, tactile eyes narrowed at the sudden deathly pall that shrouded over the usual confident Mr. Gold. This wasn't like him; to look panicked and rattled as though his whole world were about to come plummeting down upon his head and crush him beneath.

A deeper frown wound grimly over her inscrutable features as she lowered her voice to a sparing whisper. "Something wrong?" The sherrif queried in calm concern. Her eyes roved the masses for signs of unrest or more trouble from Regina.

Never in all her months staying at Storybrooke had she ever seen the sheer and blatant terror cross his grizzled features so. He looked scared like a lost child, weak, and vulnerable and hollow as though the first stiff breeze would make him crumble into a heap of char and ashes.

The fiend felt stark, draining panic swell within him, like a rising tide of fright, washing any scrapings of sanity he had and drowning it. He lapped his dry lips tremulously with an even dryer tongue as he scanned the crowed with his intense vigorous stare. "There was a woman by my side…Belle. Where…why…" He replied in a numb stammer; barely even registering what fell lamely and incoherently from his cracked lips.

The fiend didn't even know completely if he was making any comprehending sense with what was sputtering stupidly out of his mouth, nor did he truly care. All that mattered was that she was found safe and real and alive. No, nothing else even came close to mattering compared to that.

Reality seemed flitting and fading in his mind akin to a milky fog hovering sparsely over the veil of his head. Had Belle been real at all, had the queen taken her captive once more in her worrying departure, or had she slipped out all by her lonesome unable to tolerate the cramped, heated establishment any longer?

Cold droplets of sweat beaded heavily upon the back on his neck and his furrowed, line gouged brow as the thoughts of all consuming horror she could have been privy to barreled in his mind; each worst than the last.

A curse born of desperation and fear mumbled under his breath as he fought down the talons of terror grasping at his black heart. Because he had desired to make such a cunning entrance and focus on his deals rather than his love, he had lost sight of what was newly regained. How utterly foolish of him to take his eyes off his Belle even for a heartbeat!

In those few precious moments of his swaggering pride and flaunting of his newly restored magic's she had disappeared as though she had never been at all. But it couldn't be true, Gold reminded himself with a stalwart shake of his head. Her kisses had been sweeter than the finest of damson wine, her skin too soft, and her smile all too real for her to have been an apparition fueled by the desperation of his wants and thoughts.

"Her?" The golden haired sheriff asked; pointing between the milling throngs towards the counter.

Swiveling his head about in a dizzying quickness, the businessman sighed in abject relief to see his Belle leaning easily against the counter and chatting amiably with the crimson clad waitress, Ruby.

They seemed deep in conversation, bantering in low murmurs that in the raucous din of the restaurant couldn't have been caught by the keenest ear.

The extremely relived fiend made a vague nearly indiscernible reply towards the curse breaker who in turn stared incredulously at the beauty then to Mr. Gold, with a glare of indiscernible confusion or surprise.

If the businessman paid the sheriff any heed towards her inscrutable look, he didn't show it as he shoved and bullied his way through the sea of terrified people to get to his Belle once more and have her close.

More than one unfortunate person ducked or scrambled frantically away, squeaking in fear, into the ranks of people, terrified of standing in the way of the most powerful man in the entire town, or even still wary of a blow from his gold tipped cane should they not be quick to flee from his dead set path.

As though sensing his approach the beauty abruptly ended her chat with the grim waitress, who gazed murderously feral at the Dark One with her oddly twin golden eyes, and turned to her Rum with a ready, soft smile.

However, the warm grin instantly faded, seeing the panic still rife upon his thin, scraggly features.

"Is something amiss?" Belle asked softly so as not to distill even more terror to those around.

For if the Dark One was beginning to panic the masses would surly be stirred into terror and rioting.

Here the most powerful man in all the realms was staring at her as though the hounds of hell were savagely baying at the fringe of the county forest and starving for blood.

Foolishness took the place of terror as Gold neared his Belle. The stupid thoughts of her not being real and the fear that had enthralled him, concerning Regina, seemed to cruelly mock him, now that she was back in arms reach.

Embarrassment and shame flashed in his eyes as he drew near and placed a calloused hand gently on her arm, just to feel her warm skin beneath his own once more. The very touch brought back memories of the Dark Castle where he had saved her from her dreadful ladder tumble and she had looked into his eyes without fear or disgust, but something more.

"I…I couldn't find you." He explained, hoping his voice didn't sound as weak and pathetic as he thought it did.

A spark of disgust towards himself flared at the thought. To her, he must sound like some possessive master or frightened child, the fiend pondered grimly, ready to have Belle utter a scolding retort or turn away at his utter stupidity.

Her startling cobalt orbs softened to him as she placed her delicate hand over his own in tender, soothing comfort that banished every worry and embarrassment from him as smoke upon the wind.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have wandered." She replied gently, touched with his genuine concern of her and the true fear she had seen sparked inside of him.

The russet haired beauty's grin suddenly dissipated in a ghost of a smile, instantly filling Gold with an inkling of foreign dread at the look. Though he hadn't seen Belle in over three decades he still knew her so well and knew every skewed motion of her lovely features.

"But we need to talk." She finished so quietly even Ruby's canine hearing barely picked it up.

A dreaded anxiousness pierced the fiend at her words, but he forced a tight, false smile and nudges his head almost imperceptibly towards the back entrance of the crowded diner. There were far too many about who might have their ears perked to their conversation. Ears he'd rather not supply ammunition or seeds of fertile plots that would have to have him get truly nasty and dark with his powers once more to protect his love.

The muggy evening air was cooler and crisp than it had been when they'd first ventured inside diner as the pair stepped out into the wet, garbage rank alleyway.

The sky had turned into a dark, mulled gray and the street lights were beginning to switch on as the tell tale signs night was soon to fall upon the world.

Now with the curse partially broken and magic layered upon the town, those that had once wandered in the dark with their deeds from the old world would do so once more.

The Headless Horseman was most assured to be riding and roaming about again upon his steed along with other undesirables who had stalked the nights long before this world was known.

Goblins and dark fae would turn back to their sinister nature, warlocks and witches would be stewing and lamenting over the loss of their regents and cauldrons, and creatures once despised such as ogres and trolls would have awakened to look into their mirrors and see the same humans they had once despised now covering their souls with the skin they thought soft and ugly long ago in their true world.

Dread had not remotely left the Dark One as they traversed into the refreshing open air, but at least he consoled himself with the fact that Belle clung to his arm and seemed relived to be away from the cramped confines of the diner she had so detested.

A smile bloomed upon his features as he tenderly swiped a rebellious chestnut curl from her face and held her impossibly close to his body. From a distance they might have seemed like two teenagers making out behind the diner.

"I'm glad to be free from there. Any longer and I bet we'd have all roasted." He chuckled heartily and hooked a finger over his choking dark crimson tie to wriggle it loose.

Belle flashed a small, rather forced, saddened half grin at his quip, her mind searching and whirling with considerations. How could she make him understand what she was to speak next? Would he be angry at her, would he be hurt?

It hadn't been an arbitrary thought or a whim, she reminded herself staunchly. She had thought about since they had gotten back in his car and driven to town and as they'd tramped along the deserted streets and even as the diner broke down into their own worries.

Perhaps not seeing her sorrowful smile, or maybe in denial of what it truly was, the fiend made a jerking motion with his head towards the opening aperture of the alley and smiled mischievously. "Whatever it is you want to talk about, we can discuss on our way home." Gold suggested mildly.

He had it all arranged in his mind. She would rest in his bedroom, while he would sleep on the couch 'til he could clear out some of the dusty junk laden in one of his other rooms and rearrange the chamber to her liking.

She would have books and a window seat and flowers, lots of flowers and clothes all of her choosing and whatever her heart desired would be hers with a snap of his spindly fingers.

People would fear her as they did him. They would see the beauty walking down the sidewalk with her head held high as all moved for her and whisper that that was Belle, Rumpelstiltskin's only love. While they would be wary of her, she would banish their terror by being ordinary joyous Belle; beloved by all.

And as for himself? He would treat her like he should have treated her the day she sold herself to him for the protection of her people. He would wait upon her every word like the queen she was. Her very want was law, her needs the highest priority in the entire world.

"That's sort of what we need to talk about." Belle admitted gently as she untangled her arms from his own and disengaged from his warm grasp, though her body protested leaving his warmth.

Forcing her nerves to steady and taking a deep breath, the beauty gathered what little courage still remained with her and hugged her arms to ward off the creeping tendrils of cold twining about her body.

Being with him felt so natural, so right. To go with him to his home was a thing her body and soul craved; to be in his household once more, to be close and warm, but not yet not until…

"Before I came to your shop Ruby found me here in the alley way." Belle explained earning her a confused look from the silent Mr. Gold. "She and Granny gave me something to eat and allowed me time to explain my precarious situation. After I had told them some of the truth, Granny offered me a job working as a second waitress and a place to stay in their small motel. At the time I had to find you so I declined. But now…" She nodded more to herself than to her love, holding back the hoarseness and regret in her, determined timbre. "I'm going to take them up on their kind offer. That's what I was talking to Ruby about."

A punch to the gut with a great iron spike could not have hurt more in than moment to the shocked Rumpelstiltskin. She didn't want to be with him.

Anger towards her words tried to flare inside of his forlorn form; accusations and curses at such nonsense, but grief kept dousing the wick and blowing at the sparks before they could gain a substantial foothold.

If one thing in this world could decimate him, this was most certainly it.

Emotion tightened his throat at her revelation, making his heart bleed as he replayed the words in his mind. She didn't want to be with him. He should have known, Rum cursed inwardly. How could he have been so utterly idiotic to believe differently after all that had occurred?

_Make her come with you_, a voice hissed vilely persuasive in his mind, for he still had that power and right.

At that moment he could bind her and spirit her away without her leave or will whether she damned well liked it or not. She could be his solely and forever once more if he only put his magic to the task.

There would be no mistreatment this time, but no, he quickly reprimanded himself banishing the dark thoughts, it wouldn't be right to take her captive again.

He had so much to say, so much to ask and argue against her proclamation, yet when he opened his mouth only one word sputtered out. "W…why…?"

Pain lashed across Belle's lovely features as the mist of tears welled sorrowfully in her cerulean depths. "Rum, for more than thirty years I have been a prisoner." Before he could argue she interjected quickly. "No, I do not count being with you as a portion of my captivity. We were friends and companions more than master and slave. Masters do give their slaves entire library's as gifts." A brief chuckle of reminiscent sorrow exhaled from her lips, but fell away as quickly as it had come.

Her eyes turned from his own so that he could not see the despondent misery wallowing within. "Regina held me captive all those years and then I was holed up in that five by five cell like a dangerous animal forced into an eternal lonely gray with my mind on the very hinges of insanity. For once, at least for a little while I need to be free. Like Emma said we need to continue leading regular lives. If the queen hadn't taken me her prisoner I think this would have been the life I would have led here."

The Dark One stood numb and frozen at her words. What little had been left of the overcast day was nearly all dark now coating the world in shades of blackness. A light on the back stoop of the diner threw their shadows across the rain glossed stone and bricks and eerily marred their features with harsh radiance.

Finally, he managed to take a lumbering step towards her, his entire body feeling like lead and his heart akin to a boulder sagging dangerously in his aching chest.

He would not give her up so easily, yet he knew the truth behind her words and more that she did not deem to speak. "But Belle…I've only just found you again. I love you." He protested breathlessly almost as he held his hands out akimbo. "Surely-"

"Did you really look for me, Rumpelstiltskin?" Belle inquired abruptly cutting him off. Her voice was soft but laced delicately with melancholy as the memories of pain resurged in her mind.

Rum paused at the sudden question as if she had snatched away his voice and any pathetic argument he had. He fought the urge to flinch at her words so simply spoken. Of course he had gone to see if they truly had killed her, but to say he had truly _sought _for her, well…

His voice hardened roughly. "The queen told me you were dead." He responded pathetically as though it was some sort of valid excuse.

"And you believed her!" The beauty yelled, her voice echoing painfully poignant in the dank alley.

"I saw the desecrated pyre where they burned you! I clenched your ashes in my hands! I wept into your blood stained cloak!" Rumpelstiltskin argued vehemently, heat rising to his five o'clock shadowed cheeks.

Tears, hot and scalding ran down her face as she screamed at him; her hands balled into twin fists of frustration and rage. "You know of her lies and deceits, you know what cunning webs she spins, and yet you took her word for it! You didn't search me out, you didn't scoure the realms for me, you didn't look!"

She stabbed her finger into her chest. "Years, Rum, _years _I was locked in her dungeon, crying, begging, pleading for you. I only kept the fibers my sanity because I just knew one day you would come and unchain me, and you never came…"

Her voice became quiet and hoarse as she turned from him. "Because you never looked. After all this time I had to find you. And you expect me to simply go with you home as though nothing of the sort ever occurred? You expect us to pick up with what could have been if you hadn't been so afraid that night by the spinning wheel?"

She shook her head, the tears brooking along their paths upon her cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I can't go with you. Not now, not after all this time. And yet, I do truly love you which makes this choice all the more torturous for me. For my body wants nothing more than to go with you, to be close, to be near and smell your flesh and feel your skin and revel that I am with you once more."

Silence fell like the darkness around them, all consuming and terrible. The wind whined through the alley way, and it seemed through Rum's gutted hollow soul. For long moments he stood staring at her back as she sobbed quietly, unsure what to do or say.

"You need time. I understand." Rumpelstiltskin whispered hoarsely as he offered a respectful nod laden with regret. A watery smile, thick with sadness smeared morosely across his face as he fought back the press of scalding tears of his own.

He had not done enough. He had not fought for her, or pursed her to the ends of the realms, but coveted his powers and pride. He had not denied the queen's words or what cunning lay beneath the burial ashes as he should have. Once again he had been a coward and done nothing when he should have done all in his cast power.

"I'll come visit you everyday." He promised quietly, feeling the words insufficient, but the best he had to offer.

It wasn't much, to begin proving himself again, but it was a start. This time, there would be no cowardly acceptance. There would be a fight for his Belle to prove his love.

Belle swiped her eyes free of tears as she turned to him. She had half expected anger towards her decision, a magic spell forcing her come along, or begging, which might have been worse for she may have been to weak to resist his pleas and came with him willingly.

Perhaps since neither had occurred it was a sign of true growth within her Rum; not simply words he had spoken out of joy and relief.

The beauty sniffed stalwartly and offered a small smile of her own. "I would like that." She admitted truthfully.

Gold suddenly closed the distance between them once more as he put his hand upon her cheek. Heat flooded to her face at his touch, causing her skin to bloom in a rosy pink blush.

"Rest assured, though, I will not loose you again." He stated like a solemn oath in which only the dark firmament held witness to that promise.

Hell and earth would have to crumble away into nothingness before that ever happened again. And even still she would be by his side as the void washed over them and they lay in the grave.

Belle leaned into his tempting touch; drawn to him as those in the diner had been drawn to the pulsing of magic so long forgotten in the world, or like a moth entranced by the coaxing light of a flickering candles flame.

Her lips twitched upwards in a loving grin as she pressed her palms high upon his slowly heaving chest and curled her fingers over his shoulders and neared closer still as he wrapped his arms tightly about her slender malnourished form, making their bodies flush against one another. "I never thought otherwise." She replied in a quiet chuckle right as his lips met her own.


	5. War Councils

The bell above Granny's diner tinkled merrily as the now magically restored Mr. Gold stalked in slowly. His usual superior demeanor, as though he ruled the entire world and its coming and goings were set to whatever pace he deemed fit, still hadn't changed given the recent life altering events.

Events pushed into place by Emma partially breaking the curse had not in the least had an effect upon his style, for he still dressed sharply in his expensive dark suits and exquisite silk ties.

His cane, formed of stout ash wood and a handled of gold crafted into the form of an eagles rending beak or a dragons curled claw, whichever style took his fancy, still tapped rhythmically with his steps more out of habit than anything else. Given his magical powers endowing him with strength, there surely was no more need of such an item save for appearances.

A wide, mocking smile bloomed upon the fiend's lips as Ruby crossed his path and flashed him a nasty scowl at his presence. Without a word towards the hated businessman, she slipped behind the counter with a fistful of orders in her clenched grip.

She was one who hated the devious Rumpelstiltskin through and through; not just for tampering with things he had no business to dabble in, but for making her friends lives hell in this world and the former.

Perhaps it was simply her more feral nature, now fully brought to remembrance and use, but Gold had no doubt if she had one opportunity to rip his heart from his chest she would have done so readily; laughing all the while.

"Rum!" A lovely voice exclaimed softly behind him, making the businessman forget everyone and everything else except his wonderful Belle.

An even wider smile creased his constantly coarse features as he turned towards his love.

Her amber honey hair was pulled back into a stylish ponytail held by blue band, and she wore an apron over a pair of faded jeans and a white blouse fringed with patterns of roses that dipped in a V neck just teetering upon the edge of modest.

The slightly worn clothes were no doubt given in charitable friendship to her by the crimson clad waitress.

Her deep azure eyes seemed to sparkle at him as though stars had become enraptured and caught in her cerulean depths. For a moment the fiend found it hard to draw breath at the very sight of her standing before him once more.

She was alive, real, breathing, tangible, and though he had spent the day before reassuring himself of that, but holding her close, he could still hardly believe it.

A part of him had to wonder how he had ever thought of letting her stay with the savage Ruby and her shrewd guardian instead of with him where he could look into those indigo orbs for all eternity and never tire of the sight.

"Belle." He finally managed to speak with a slightly gasping intake of air. Her very name felt like only the reason he breathed!

The beauty chuckled pleasantly and motioned to a booth at the back of the mostly deserted diner with a lacquered menu. "Can I get you anything?" She inquired as he slid down heavily.

"Tea." Rumpelstiltskin replied so quickly it astonished him.

He hadn't allowed himself a sip of the brew since she had gone and he had learned of her supposed death. No, a drink that held so many memories would have been akin to supping scalding bile only a few short days ago. Now he felt his body craving for it as Leroy did alcohol.

One of her eyebrows perched slyly at him in a reminiscent tease as she slightly pursed her lips and played coy with him. "Two sugars and a splash of cream?"

He couldn't help but mutter a small chuckle as he winked roguishly at his Belle. "Of course, Dearie, and also anything…." He waved his hand dismissively, his face faintly skewed in disgust at the cheery menu, barely sparing it a glance. "Palatable in this place that you suggest."

Belle nodded dutifully and shoved her order pad and pen in her apron pocket. "Coming right-" She got no further as the bell above the diner door resounded again, this time brining the dull thud of a host of boots in its wake.

The fiend peered slightly behind his love turned waitress to gaze upon the image of Miss Swann looking as menacing as normal in her crimson leather jacket and wool cap snug over her rich golden hair.

Behind her, her reunited parents Snow and James trailed close hand in hand with their grandson on their heels along with Leroy and Astrid, Shawn and Ashley and a few others her majesty had so imperiously labeled the 'Usurpers'.

Most had taken Emma's advice from the night before and the town had rattled to life as usual. Shops had their open signs turned up; the bank was in business, children, albeit a smaller amount yipped and hollered upon the bus and trundled into school.

All in all life was going on per usual though severely strained, like a taut cord ready to be snapped in a fraction of a second should the wrong move be taken.

It was extremely clear, though life continued regularly, that the town was divided. Those that sided with Regina or were too afraid to shake off the chains from her ever present lording over them, tried their best to veer from Emma's cohorts and sympathizers as though they were beset with the plague.

Things were heating up and rapidly, of that everyone knew for certain. The only true question was which side would lash out first and plunge the town headlong into battle.

The sheriff cast the fiend a dangerous narrowed gaze, but said nothing as she and her companions slipped into their chairs circled about a hoard of tables crammed together as some sort of war council.

Had Rumpelstiltskin not cared in the least who won, the image of them all crowded around making plans to overthrow the mayor in a dinky little diner might have caused him much hilarity.

Though after he had learned of what Belle had gone through, he looked upon the small meeting with a fledging, admittedly, grudging bit of respect.

Belle offered her love an apologetic shrug, sorry their little chat had to end so soon. Work was the number one priority now with more customers drifting into the quaint diner. "I'll be back soon." She promised and tramped towards the mess of tables.

The fiend's eyes watched every graceful move of her body as she padded over to the mass of rebels.

Though he was to far away to hear unless he employed his magic's, his warm chocolate brown orbs watched the stoic sheriff and Belle perceptively. Emma's incredulous gaze combed over the beauty as though she were putting his love under a microscope to inspect for some flaw or chink.

No doubt she had been intrigued of Belle's closeness and surprising ease with the most hated man in town. And last night as he had so foolishly looked like a lost, panic stricken child, that too must have made the cunning sheriff even more curious.

Raged flared within him at that one look the sheriff flashed sternly at his Belle. The incredulous look must have been flashed at her often as she had arrived back at her village.

It was a look of suspicion and mistrust and disgust all because of her sacrifice to aid the very people who had then shunned her for her association with him.

Yes, her leaving had been all well and good, until she had arrived back. All of a sudden, the woman they expected to remember only in memoriam for her heroic sacrifice was amongst them once more. No longer was she the hero who had saved her village, but she was the tainted monsters whore, his bed warmer, an accomplice to his evil deeds and whatever misfortunes his hands wrought across the realms.

A growl rumbled like a low, faraway peal of thunder roiled from his throat. Emma Swann, none of them, had any idea what his wonderful Belle had endured for more than thirty long years and to sit there and judge her and analyze her as though she was just another criminal hiding a secret infuriated him to no small degree.

His gloved hands curled over the golden handle of his cane until the knuckles beneath the leather had turned ashen white. Only self control and the knowledge that she was very powerful and important beat the urge to fire a barrage of magic at the fair haired curse breaker.

Another moment of building anger passed so blazingly hot that he nearly started to his feet to snap at the woman questioning Belle.

In that instant however, Belle retorted whatever question the thoroughly inappropriate Miss Swann had broached, calmly and by the small up tip of her lips, seemingly with unabashed pride.

Even though he hadn't heard her reply, by the gasps, gaping, wide eyes, and swinging mouths dangling open in astonishment around the tables, he was certain she had spoken something about her and Mr. Gold being true loves. And what's more, not being ashamed at all of the fact, but proud and happy.

More than a few eyes darted to him then quickly flashed back to the beauty in befuddlement and amazement. Why would a woman so bright and beautiful have anything to do with a monster like Mr. Gold?

Truth be told Rumpelstiltskin could barely believe it sometimes himself. A girl so lovely and wonderful and beautiful like Belle had fallen in love with the beast that had enslaved her, took her away from the only family she had, and forced her into an eternity of lowly servitude, and yet still held to that love even when he had shunned her and she had been captured all for her association with him.

That knowledge made him feel more than unworthy of his wonderful Belle. It made him desire to grovel piteously at her feet for what he had done and all the pain he had caused.

Anger drained away at the thought, making his rage simmer down to glowing embers as he watched Belle quickly slip into the kitchen with a few words and orders.

From the myriad of shoved together tables David, now called by James once more, stared hard at the fiend in bewilderment. It was so obvious what he meant to inquire that Gold could have almost heard the words aloud from across the diner.

Was that her; his true love?

The Dark One recalled their encounter that overcast day in the infinite forest that had turned into a duel, and then a bargain struck to hide True Love inside the heated fire engorged belly of Maelifiecent.

The image of James slightly taken aback look when he had alluded to Belle and her death still was burned into his mind as though it had happened yesterday. Even then the pain was so great he didn't know how he remained standing and looking aloof and not crumpled into a heap of phthisis and tears.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the fiend dipped his head in a slight nod towards James in affirmation. That was her; his Belle, his fully underserved love.

Belle came back soon, as she had promised, one hand holding an off white ceramic mug of tea that curled milky white steam into the air while the other held a hefty plate of cheesy eggs and crunchy brown toast and a few sausage links.

"If I remember correctly, the Rumpelstiltskin I served had very simple tastes in meals." She stated assuredly with a hint of amusement.

That was one thing she had been grateful of in the Dark Castle. While she wasn't an expert cook, her master was content with simple, non complex dishes that were filling and satisfying.

Unfurling his napkin with the laconic snap of a wrist, the fiend grinned as he picked up a fork. "I was always a meat and potatoes kind of beast." He quipped before scooping up a forkful of the gooey eggs.

Belle crinkled her nose at him. "You are most certainly not a beast now and you never were before."

Before he could retort the pick-up bell dinged from the kitchen service window to alert of another order ready.

"Have a good day, Rum, and try not to cause too much mischief." The beauty bade jokingly before she hurriedly raced off to attend the others.

Mischief? The fiend lips curled upward in amusement as he stifled a heart peal of laughter. He was the Dark One, manipulator of kings, stealer of souls and she dare dub his actions mere mischief!

A part of the fiend felt he should have been insulted some one would term his machinations as simply mischief, but he merely seemed amused at Belle's so lightly phrased word. She always did have a way with words. Her reading in the library could entrance him for hours on harsh winter nights where there was nothing more to do than recline and loose himself in her voice and the tales she spun for his pleasure.

A sigh quietly escaped his lips as he took a sip of the long abstained brew and leaned back comfortably in the booth. He hadn't felt so contented and at peace for an extremely long time.

The fiend slowly turned his attention to the large window that clearly displayed the glorious, if not anxious morning, in Storybrooke.

As he took another hearty bite of the rather tasty eggs, he had to wonder what sort of 'mischief' was Regina plotting at the present time and how would the so called war council of Emma Swann fare upon the coming onslaught.

~8~8~

"Glad to see we could all make it to discuss our present conundrum." Regina greeted in a vilely pleasant manner to those crowded in her lavish office.

Her glossy midnight hued lips curled into a menacing Cheshire smile as she regarded those many dark souls reclining in her study and sipping her finest apple brandy.

Morgan Keel, owner of the ports and docks that sat upon the coast and the salt brined waves at the end of Storybrooke, used his last remaining hand to dip his gaudy fedora in a respectful motion to the Madame Mayor.

While for years many had known him a Captain Morgan he preferred his true moniker of Hook far better.

"Happy to be here, old friend." A nondescript, corpulent woman with ratty, thin black hair falling about in tatters about her heavy shoulders, wearing large black gown, replied before taking another pull at her cigarette. Her watery green eyes scanned those around her intensely each measuring their uses. "Though I must say ask what has been on everyone's mind since you summoned us. Where is Maleficent?"

Regina flashed a tight, dangerous smile to those filled into the study. "Maleficent is dead, Ursula. The curse breaker slew her."

At that proclamation a gasp arose from the conclave of menaces huddled into the Mayors large and expensively decorated sanctum.

"Poor unfortunate soul." Ursula murmured mournfully and slightly shook her head causing her double chin to wobble.

The sorceress took only a moment to revel in the fear, knowing it could be used to her endless advantage before daring to speak to the evil crowd again. With such knowledge, each would be working in their minds what best action to take against the arisen threat.

"Maelifiecent's sad fate will be our own if we do not stand against Emma Swann and her murderous band." Regina stated matter-of-factly. "They remember our deeds and our slights. Rest assured they will come for our blood and make certain we lay in ashes as our poor Maleficent does under the Storybrooke library."

A whiny voice in the crowd bellowed out. "And what exactly do you want us to do?"

"To do, Prince John?" The wily queen echoed the question nearly mockingly as she paced along their ranks.

She was the very image of queenly grace as she had been those long nights ago before she had enacted the curses powers. Her chin jutted out superiorly and proudly as she looked down her nose upon all others.

The ice in her glass clinked as she came to a sudden halt in front of them all and turned to face them regally. "We all want to stab one another in the back. It is in our nature to find a way to gain the upper hand in all our stations even if it means killing some one we just as readily call friend." She placed her glass down and looked to them all beseechingly. "What we do is band together, forget our personal quarrels for a time, and squash Emma Swann's so called rebellion and her vaunted sense of justice."

"I have no desire to see Emma crushed." A blustery coughing voice piped up from the back.

The crowd, surprised by the proclamation, turned to see a plump figure of the flower salesman Moe French. He still held thick pinkish scars that would never heal from Mr. Gold's merciless beating, but his eyes glowed in an inferno for revenge. "The way I heard it, Rumpelstiltskin does not deal with the likes of you all. If Mr. Gold is not on your side then I am."

After all that he had done to him and his Belle, Maurice would have banded with the devil to see the Dark One brought low. It was his fault they had shunned Belle, and the people demanded she be put in a safe place away from good, untainted folk.

Even though he wasn't truly with them his hate made him blind and weak, Regina noted cleverly. He would have his uses, possibly tide turning uses.

"Where is Rumpelstiltskin anyway?" Hook inquired before taking a healthy sip of brandy and smacking his lips as the fiery brew sloshed down his throat.

Regina shook her head. "As Mr. French stated, he won't be fighting with us. I and he have had a…falling out." She revealed steadily.

No, not after he had somehow discovered his precious little slave girl alive and now back in his protective shadow, would he even consider bargaining with her.

Taking ice-skating lessons in hell would sooner happen than him banding with her!

It was a small wonder at all that he hadn't jumped on the Emma Swann's bandwagon fully. But no, if Gold was anything he was merely an instigator or a helper. He never truly took sides as was his perseverant nature to thrive and reap the spoils he chose.

"Just as well, I never could stand that squeaky voiced imp." A haughty woman observed. The black cat nestled in her arms purred in agreement and swished its sinuous tail as though in lazy reply.

At that proclamation a murmur of hate or approval rose up. Rumpelstiltskin was hated by many and loved by none, or so they had long thought.

The vile monarch clapped her hands together once, her lips joined tightly in a creased, malignant smile that spelled trouble better than any words ever could. "So, do we agree to put off our petty squabbles and join forces to halt our old foes?"

Cunning eyes trailed from one another about the large room, devious plotting sparked behind those glassy depths, treachery and malice coiling in every soul like a dangerous serpent ready to strike the moment ones back was turned.

One by one however, the pact was made. A pact that had not been joined since the curse had been cast upon all the land.

A small, conniving chuckled slipped from Regina's sable glossed lips as she reclined slightly upon her desk and lifted her glass in a toast to her comrades. "Then lets begin this war, shall we."


	6. First Blood

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing, Lovelies. Hugs for all!_

**~8~8~**

"They've taken her!" Leroy hollered breathlessly as he burst warningly into the nearly vacant establishment of Granny's Diner.

The former dwarfs face was drenched in a mask of brooking lines of sticky sweat and his unkempt, coarse salt and peppered beard dripped droplets upon his patched black flannel jacket.

His face was a slick sheen of faint crimson that belayed his exhaustion and exertion of a long, loping run. Air heaved desperately from his stocky form, his lungs working like blacksmiths bellows greedily devouring much needed breath. He stumbled slightly to his knees, but with a determined growl that only a formidable dwarf could produce, shot up once more leaning heavily against one of the nearby tables for support.

The only persons inside the quaint café were the now infamous Emma Swann and her mother who sat at booth, catching up on lost time between sips of hot chocolate.

While her daughter may have been leader of the new found resistance, Mary Margaret was wise enough to know when to pull the vehement Emma from her relentless work for an hour or two to keep herself from becoming too overwhelmed with all that was now heavily burdened on her shoulders.

Eyes widened in surprise, the sheriff started up, nearly knocking over her steaming mug of chocolate in the same instance. "Got who, Leroy? Astrid?" She prompted in alarm just as Granny, the exotic Ruby, and the quiet Belle slipped in from the kitchen; drawn to the raucous shouts and thumps resounding thunderously through the diner.

The drunkard shook his head violently as one hand clenched viciously at his still rapidly contracting chest. "No, Ashley." He gasped piteously for breath. "She was on her way inside the bank when two of Regina's goons nabbed her. They flanked her, then one of them put a wet rag to her face and they dragged her off unconscious!"

"Ash told me she was going to deposit a check for Shawn before she left this morning." Ruby confirmed, her lupine features and wolfish golden orbs marbled with intense concern.

Emma's grimaced as she helped the staggering Leroy to a stool, only then noticing the ribbon of bright crimson blood trailing from his ear and down a large gash upon his jaw; mingling with the coarse hairs of his beard.

"Did you see which way they took her, or what they drove up in?" The sheriff asked; her mind racing.

"No." The normally surly soul retort in a hiss of pain as he delicately dabbed his stubby fingers across the still slightly oozing wound. "When I tried to help rescue her, the one that wasn't carrying Ashley took me down in one blow. He hit like a truck!"

"Magic most likely." Ruby reasoned as she ducked behind the register to produce a dusty off-white plastic box with a cross on the top and hurriedly flipped it open causing a plume of dust to spin through the air.

Taking a bottle of antiseptic and a bandage from the opened first aid kit, Emma began expertly administering it to the injured Leroy. "Did you remember anything about them?" She pressed, as she delicately swabbed his oozing gash with alcohol.

"Uh…tall, broad shouldered, close cropped black hair. Your typical idiot thugs." He replied in a wince of pain, truly upset he couldn't recall more.

Granny shook her silvered head dourly. "Not much to go on. Can't even track their car and that description can match more than half the men in town."

Though Emma hated to admit it, the elder business owner had an extremely perceptive point. With barely anything but an eyewitness account, no license plate, no thorough identification, trying to track down the two would be a shot in the dark at best!

"You think it was truly Regina?" The golden haired bounty hunter turned sheriff queried with a faint glimmer of optimism. A small part of her dared hope it was some one else less formidable than the powerful enchantress; Ashley's conniving step-mother perhaps. Some one who wouldn't require all her skill to defeat and bring back the young mother.

Leroy and Snow shared a knowing glance then nodded dourly. "They sound like Regina's guards. Back in our true world those were the types she employed. I'd stake my life on it that's who has Ashley now." Mary Margaret assured her daughter.

A desperate sigh crossed Emma's lips, laced heavily with frustration, at her hands practically bound before her in disadvantage.

She ran her fingers in agitation through her fair honey locks, stifling back a cry of rage. "There's no option then. We look in the usual places and hope Regina decides to contact us with her demands."

Perfect, Emma spat inwardly in disgust, not a full two weeks into their awakened state and already Regina was attempting to score the upper hand. And what's more she was apparently succeeding!

"There may be another route." Belle piped up for the first time.

All faces turned to the beautiful waitress as she twisted her a pen in her hands relating her idea. "Ruby, given you know…" She motioned vaguely to her fellow waitress, not wanting to be offensive.

"That I am a basically a werewolf." The crimson server deadpanned caustically to fill in the blank.

Belle flashed her new found friend a weak smile. "Right. Given that, her sense of smell should be elevated far above our own. If we could go back to where the abduction occurred-"

"Then there just might be enough of a trail left to track Ashley's scent." Emma concluded breathlessly as though the thought had been sent from heaven. Ruby had done it once, tracking a heart in Mary Margaret's jewelry box in a shallow hole by the river.

At once the scarlet waitress plucked up her skimpy gray and black fur coat from the rack and slipped into it. Her odd golden eyes glowed fierily as though the beast inside of her relished the coming hunt. "Anything I should pay attention to beside her normal scent?" She asked the brilliant Belle.

"Try identifying smells that might be around a mother. The aroma of milk, powder, diapers, that's sure to be about Ashley." She reasoned matter-of-factly. "If you do find her make sure you contact Emma before rushing headlong."

There, before them all, Belle seemed like a level headed general unwavering in the least by the sudden catastrophe set at their feet. The look was not lost upon the perceptive Miss Swann who remained in quiet observe to the transformed normally, self kept server that usually only spoke so much to Ruby and the hated Mr. Gold.

"And Leroy if you're up for it, go down to the pharmacy and ask your fellow…er former dwarfs if they've sold any heavy sedatives, and Mary Margaret try the hospital and ask doctor Whale about any missing medication or chloroform." Belle ordered gently, but in a clam, sensible manner that brooked no argument.

Those who had been given their designated tasks nodded dutifully, immediately jumping into action for their captured friend. Looking through the windows to the street, Belle could see Ruby periodically stopping and sniffing at the breezy air before she tramped out of sight, and Leroy tottering off with and ice pack and a bandage pressed tightly upon his grizzled jaw.

Emma busied herself putting out a text of alarm to the others who would soon join her at the diner for their next recourse in action if anything of Ashley could be found or identified.

Slipping the phone back into her jacket pocket, the tactile sheriff leaned against the counter and nudged her head to the door, a ghost of a disarming smile upon her fair features. "You sure knew how to get them all set out. I think you're better at it than me." She observed to the beauty.

Fire bloomed into a faint pink upon Belle's cheeks as she shrugged in apology and took up a dishrag to wipe the counter. "Sorry, I didn't know I was doing that; comes natural I suppose. I was one of the generals in my father's war council when the ogres were attacking my village."

Emma snorted partially in amusement. "No offence, but it's kind of hard to believe Moe French was ever a king."

After the night in the diner, the cunning sheriff had instantly put two and two together with the furious Mr. Gold nearly beating Moe French to death and Belle being the girl he was probably referring to in his angry, mournful rant as the blows from the gold handle of the cane rained down upon French's unprotected body.

The corpulent flower salesmen didn't seem like one to rule a kingdom; he seemed more the recluse inventor type, not privy to ruling much of anything.

"Moe French?" Belle echoed the name curiously. Her brow furrowed into thin wrinkled line, unsure of what the curse breaker meant, when the answer dawned upon her like a blow to the jaw. "My father! I can't believe he's alive!" She gasped at the revelation.

A sense of joy crept into her soul and seemed to crawl up her throat in giddy glee strangling her. To see her papa once more, and know that he was at least alive and well!

The blonde snorted in derision and shrugged. "Me too, after what Gold did to him." She commented dryly before biting eagerly into a donut.

Jubilation that had once elated the beauty deflated once more at the offhanded comment. Rum had done something to her father? Her deep cobalt orbs quickly searched the curse breakers face, looking for a hint of what those words meant. Whatever it was, by the grimace laced upon her features nothing good had come out of the encounter.

Seeing that she had put her foot in her mouth, Emma made a helpless, sorry gesture and dropped the topic, just in time to see her father James stride in with Astrid on his heels.

"We got your text." He stated breathlessly in alarm. His gray eyes were wide with concern as he slipped into a seat next to his daughter. "Any news on Ashley's whereabouts?"

Emma shook her head, more than happy to get off the unfortunate subject of Belle's beaten father. "Not yet. Ruby's trying to track her down. She'll contact us if she finds anything."

"And Snow?" He inquired before thankfully taking a mug of coffee Granny offered him.

"Off to the hospital to see if any meds are missing. Same as Leroy to the pharmacy." The sheriff explained. She nudged her head to the cleaning beauty. "It was all Belle's idea."

The waitress hid another crimson blush at the inadvertent praise as she stacked a few plates upon a tray. She had not been trying to take any leadership in the dire straights, but helping a friend more than anything else. If she had the means to aid in what she could, she would.

James opened his mouth to say something, but Emma's phone buzzed to life at that precise moment. The buzzer sounded akin to the death dirge as it vibrated almost in time with their anxiousness. Snatching it our of her pocket, the sheriff's worried blue eyes scanned the caller ID.

"It's Ruby." She confirmed direly in a hushed tone before punching a key.

A palpable silence reigned supreme in the small diner. Breathing was the only thing warily heard from those who dared even to perform the action in the tense moment. What action could Regina have taken to start off the war? Could she have so callously executed Ashley, or worse?

"She says Ashley is safe." Emma revealed in a thankful sigh, thoroughly relieved that the new mother had come to no harm, as she tapped the phone off. Her shoulders slumped as the knots of worry uncoiled from her body like ice in the summer sun. "As Ruby tells it Regina only kidnapped her to relay a message. It's something to the point of we aren't prepared for this fight if she could nab one of us so easily in broad daylight."

Granny growled, her gray eyes flashing angrily as she slammed her fist down upon the counter. "So that witch is mocking us. Trying to make us seem like ill prepared idiots who are in over their heads."

"Not at all." Belle counted thoughtfully, her brow furrowed in deep thought. "Exactly the opposite, I wager. She wanted to see what moves we would make in the event she chose to play a card such as this. She's testing the waters to see how we fare and what we'll do so she can plan better next time. A clever feint tactic."

"So she now knows to be careful in wiping a scent because Ruby could follow it." Emma spat in sudden understanding. Rage boiled inside of her at the revelation that the sorceress had gained valuable knowledge and yet another way to counter them in her already vast repertoire of parries.

After a few moments, the sheriff tapped out another text calling the search off.

Even though Emma hated it, she had to admit that Regina had gotten one up on her, and also made bare the fact she was very much not prepared for a fight with the cunning sorceress.

Failure. The ever present anxiousness of that looming reality darkened over her like the shadow of death. An icy shiver shot up her spine even at the thought, but she suppressed it stoically, not giving a hint of such upon her features.

"That was some quick thinking there when we thought something bad had happened to Ash." Emma commended to the beauty as James and Nova made a few words to Granny and wandered out again.

Snow and Leroy and Ruby would probably be on there way soon, leaving a small window of time to have the beauty alone for a long needed private chat.

She bit slowly into her sticky glazed donut, her cobalt eyes measuring the russet haired beauty as though seeing a new potential in the form of Belle French. She had a sharp, tactile mind, naturally attuned to war; there was a place for her in over throwing Regina.

Belle shrugged nonchalantly; all that mattered was that the young mother was safe and out of Regina's reach.

Leaning a bit over the counter the sheriff dipped her voice into a low tone. "We could use someone like you." She smiled as she chewed and pointed a slender finger towards the waitress. "A general who's seen long term combat and knows how to think on her feet would be indispensable."

Oh Rum would not like that in the very least! Neutral had always been his way and creed. He never liked choosing sides or showing full support, and Belle was certain he wouldn't approve if she chose to join Emma's band.

But the thought of having a hand in seeing Regina fall was a glorious one indeed. Even the image of that moment sent pleasant tingles reverberating down the beauty's spine. The woman who had tormented her and tortured her for years in that dungeon far under the foundation of her castle finally brought down like the dog she was and her reign of terror brought to a catastrophic end seemed like a dream come true.

Surely her love would understand what motives drove her. He would see the dark purple and black bruises so long ingrained upon her emaciated form and the thick upraised pinkish scar of the collar that had once been there encircling her neck in a vice, and know why she had to fight so that the evil monarch could answer for her horrendous crimes.

The beauty shrugged tactfully so as to not give away the excitement and trepidation she felt swirling in a mixed jumble inside her form. "I don't know I shall have to discuss it with Ru-…Mr. Gold."

Emma snorted distastefully at the very mention of the name. A vile grimace gouged upon the edge of her pink lips as though the moniker were a foul curse. "I don't see why. He may be your 'true love' but it's not like he owns you." She pointed out.

"Well not anymore." Belle replied without thinking. "I was his slave for the better part of two years."

The best two years of her life, she noted inwardly. Two years where she had ironically been freer as a slave than all of her life at her father's court as a princess who had been dotted upon with her every move. In that time she had discovered love and to look beneath a set of voided ebony orbs to the man beneath; the man she ultimately loved.

The flaxen haired sheriff's jaw dropped in stark astonishment. Hot, fierce anger rankled inside the curse breaker at the easily spoken revelation. She knew Gold was a low down sadistic monster, but to take such a bright woman, who no doubt had a glorious future into slavery was cruel even by his standards. And then for her to proudly, openly admit he was her true love, and she returned that love was utterly mind blowing.

Belle noticed the look many held when they realized who she was and uttered a small laugh that wafted merrily about the diner. "It's complicated." She admitted simply with a shake of her head. There was no denying that!

Shaking her head, trying to banish the shock away, Emma pushed from the counter, and grabbed her keys to her bug all in one smooth motion. "I'll bet it is, but you give me a call if you decide to join us." She offered before finishing the sprinkled donut in two mammoth chomps, and turned to depart; leaving a very contemplative Belle in her wake.

~8~8~

It was late before Belle finally had the chance to lock up the diner for the night. Though the homey café closed at around ten, there were still dirty dishes to be washed, floors to mop, trash to be thrown out, and tables to wipe down for the morning rush.

After all the excitement with Ashley's kidnapping, the chestnut haired beauty insisted upon giving Ruby a well earned break from the normal cleaning nightly upkeep, and also sending the fatigued Granny home early as well.

The tiresome work also gave her well needed alone time to sort out her thoughts concerning Emma tempting offer of playing a hand in Regina's demise.

Nightmares had often haunted her of a mysterious woman tormenting her when she had been imprisoned in the hospital. How she craved to see the figure of that torturer brought down in a bloody heap.

The beauty sighed in exhaustion of both mind and body as she flicked off the last blinking neon light in the diner before shutting the door.

The night was tranquil, with no a wandering soul to be seen upon the deserted streets. Far off to the east she could hear the echo of an excited dog barking at the wind, but readily surmised in was Dr. Hopper taking his companion Pongo for a night time walk.

While all truly did seem calm and quiet under the sable satin bed of night, Belle couldn't help but feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and a tingling sensation slither up her spine.

Though her back was turned from the sidewalk, she knew instantly a pair of eyes were riveted upon her; watching her every move.

Thoughts of Ashley and her brazen kidnapping came blaring back to her mind with a startling clarity. What if she were the real target of Regina's plots and poor Ash nothing but an earlier ploy to test the waters of such abduction? Was Regina so brash or confident to kidnap the love of Rumpelstiltskin?

Her mind reeled and hands shook tremulously as she slowly and decidedly locked the door to the diner to buy time on her next move. She could always scream and perhaps Ruby's canine ears would pick up on it in time to rush down in a 300 pound form of fur and muscle and fangs, or she could throw her weight around as it were, out rightly claiming her relationship with Rumpelstiltskin.

Very few indeed would dare his wrath. More would run into the awaiting jaws of a werewolf!

"You're getting off late" Mr. Gold observed as he stepped out of the looming shadow of the darkened diner.

His warm, accented voice banished whatever feelings of danger Belle had, immediately in a wave of relief. The beauty fought the urge to laugh at her own stupidity and bat at him with her pocketbook for staying so long lurking in the dark like a stalking predator.

What had she been thinking? Rum would never again allow her to succumb to danger.

Slipping the diner key into her pocket, Belle turned about and smiled at her true love, the thoughts of kidnapping lost and forgotten to his presence. "You're walking the streets awfully late, Mr. Gold." She rebuffed in a giggling tease.

Quite suddenly the fiend neared her, both hands pressed against the glass door to either side of her head as his face dipped only inches from hers; their noses barely touching. A wolfish grin, sly and broad, smeared across his features.

His coarse stubble nearly brushed against her smooth porcelain face as he spoke in a low alluring whisper. "I found myself in the mood for another cup of tea." He growled playfully.

"Hmm, and you thought ten thirty at night would be the most prudent time to drop by the diner?" She retorted in mock confusion; a brow arched quizzically.

He checked his antique gold watch as though shocked by the time and the disappearance of the sun in the obsidian heavens. "Well so it is, Belle-of-mine, so it is." He chuckled huskily and pecked at her lips with a kiss.

How she desired to deepen that kiss, to eagerly grasp at the silken fibers of his tie and keep him locked to her lips. What would she have given to fully claim his lips in lieu of merely quick pecks before true love could fully conquer the darkness festering inside him!

The sweetness of his kiss was addicting, making her heart sing when their lips met in hungry passion and making her mourn inwardly when they departed.

Of course they couldn't be together how they wanted to, not until he could risk having the Dark One torn away from him. Until he could give up those powers, their kisses would have to remain few and far between, toeing the line of how long they could met in that so brief a caress of caring before true love began to banish the darkness.

"So what do we do now?" She inquired breathlessly as he regretful pulled away. In his dark, chocolate eyes, she too, could see the want and the agony of having to part so soon.

He chuckled to banish the hurt. "Why Miss French, may I have the pleasure of walking you home?"

Home! Her body heaved in mirth at the ridiculous statement 'til tears rolled down her eyes. "Rum, I'm literally right across the street. Walking me home wouldn't be more than 25 steps at best!"

"Ah, but you see I thought we'd make a few detours. Just to be safe in the event of any high speeding flying broomsticks, or pumpkin carriages racing down the roads." He quipped.

Belle giggled as she slipped her arm into his and leaned upon him. Even though she was dead on her feet, and her back hurting, she found strength simply being with him. His warmth, his strength all enveloped her like a shield infusing her with the stalwart will to carry on.

At moments like that she found herself simply wishing to ask him to take her to his home and be with him forever. No one else, just them.

A content sigh fell past her lips as she leaned her head comfortably against his shoulder. They strolled at a slow pace under the softly glowing street lamps and under the twinkling heavens winking down upon them in their ebony folds of midnight.

A chill wind abruptly whistled past them, making Belle shiver slightly and the dead leaves to swirl and dance upon the nearly deserted streets.

The thin jacket she possessed from her escape wouldn't be nearly enough to halt the coming cold of the icy winter.

Making a note in his mind to procure her another, thicker coat, the fiend slipped the finely tailored jacket off his scrawny shoulders to place upon her.

Fire alit Belle's features in a rosy flush as the gesture as she wrapped the warm suit jacket tightly about her arms. The scent of magic and spiced cologne entwined in the fiber gently wafted about her, along with memories from the Dark Castle slowly sauntering through her thoughts, in truth warming her more than the coat itself.

"We should do this every night. Storybrooke is so calm and peaceful at this hour." Belle murmured wistfully.

Rum chuckled and wrapped her in his arms closer. "True. One would never know of the malignant evil growing like mold upon its underbelly."

He meant Regina of course, the vile harpy and her cohorts plotting and planning; throwing their shadow upon the quaint town akin to a dark thunder cloud brining hail and sundry.

Though she tired to hide it, Belle flinched at the mention of what darkness was looming over them, and what she could do to help beat it back to its holes and shadows once more.

The beauty paused suddenly in the middle of the deserted sidewalk, her mind final and made.

Rum turned to her, worry flashing mildly in his whiskey brown orbs. "Something wrong, Belle?"

"I am joining Emma's resistance." Belle stated stoically in a deep wavering breath.

The hell she was! Rum desired to scream, but forcefully held it back by biting his tongue until he felt the iron tang of blood spurt in his mouth.

"Belle-" He began, once he managed to steady himself, but the beauty broke in allowing no room for argument.

She shook her head, causing her hair to coming loose and cascade in an array of dark amber curls down her shoulders. "No, Rum. I am doing this, for all the years she kept me from you, and kept me locked in a dungeon like an animal. I want to do this. I want to see the last look in her beady eyes before she is hanged or shot and know that in grim satisfaction I played a hand in that demise."

"You don't know what you are getting into, Belle." Rum protested nearly frantically in order to veer her from such a choice. "Regina is savage. Not only is she cunning, she will stop at nothing and no one not to get her way. Winning is all she cares for."

Belle's eyes narrowed angrily. "You forget, Rum, I am no novice to war. I aided my father in keeping the ogres from our lands for five years, and ultimately wining the war. "

"And it ended up with you being sold into slavery for just such an outcome!" He bellowed sonorously. Somewhere in the distance a dog bayed at the noise as though feeling the rising ire of the Dark One crackling upon the breezes whispering through the town.

"You won't be safe." He continued several octaves lower upon seeing a nearby light flick on.

Belle neared him her voice even lower. "I would be if you would simply fight with us. With you, Regina and all the power combined couldn't stop your magic's."

He snorted at the true, yet ridiculously statement. "You know good and well I won't do that." Not yet.

"Then I'll help Emma as best I can." She concluded expertly, leaving no room for debate of any sort. If he wouldn't band with her, then she would simply do it herself.

No, he couldn't allow her to fight. He couldn't live with that knot of bile balled in his gut at the very thought of her somewhere fighting off the evil queen and her sinister comrades.

Every second of every day he would worry of loosing her to a bullet or blow or a terrible fate befalling her.

"Belle I…" He paused, his voice hoarse, as he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her upon the crown of her dark chestnut head. "Belle I can't loose you again. Not now, not ever. But if this is what you desire…" He let the words go unfinished, unsure if his voice would betray him or no.

It was her life, her choice. He could no longer be the over protective master, no matter how his instincts screamed him to be.

In his arms, he could feel her tensed muscles relax at his begrudging acceptance. He couldn't deny her much and she knew it.

Warm droplets of tears suddenly fell against his shirt, soaking through the expensively tailored fibers until he could feel the damp. "Is this to be our life, Rum?" Belle inquired, her sorrow laden voice muffled by his shirt and flesh. "To always argue, one to relent, and then make up when all is said and done?"

Pain stabbed him in the chest at her melancholic words. It did seem to be their routine; an argument, a disagreement then relent or realization and make up only to repeat the process.

When seen, it reminded him in no small way that their relationship was far from perfect; extremely far.

"Not forever." He promised her in a whisper and held her tighter.

She seemed to melt into his arms, leaning upon his strength as her head had leaned upon his shoulder.

Not forever, Rumpelstiltskin echoed in his mind. Her warm eyes turned from Belle to tilt upwards to the diamond studded firmament of night. Just until he found Bae, he swore, and then they could have their truly happy ending.

He hoped…


	7. Findings part I

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing all! This chapter will be in two parts, because well, it's much to long if they were together. Also, ERMERGERD CAN YOU BELIEVE SEASON ONE COMES OUT TODAY. I'm getting mine tomorrow. *Squeals*_

**~8~8~**

Dust rose in billowing gray plumes that danced in the dirty light slanting through the back window of Mr. Gold's junky pawnshop. A thick coating of grime layered upon the aged antiques nestled in their own nooks and corners forgotten and discarded by the world. The grit only begrudgingly stirred when the owner of such trinkets shifted through their aged persons which hadn't been in many a year.

Fine partials crusted upon one of his less expensive pinstripe suits coating the expertly tailored cloth in a leaden pallor. A gold kerchief was tied about his nose and mouth as his warm whisky depths roved diligently through the heaps of expensive trinkets.

His search consisted of trying to find anything that would help protect Belle and perhaps bring back memories of their time spent together in the Dark Castle. While he treasured the chipped ceramic cup as one of his most prized possessions there were more things they had shared.

Maybe, he dared hoped, having them reminisce over things they held dear would change her mind in joining Emma's suicidal lot. It was a shot in the dark, but all desperation was, he supposed grimly as he scraped years of coalesced dust off a thick, leather bound, brown steamer trunk.

He hadn't truly regretted his night of all consuming rampage those long eons ago when his heart had first been stabbed with the poisoned knife of fear and betrayal. In his utterly blind fury of misery nothing save the chipped cup, which was far too precious to his heart, had been spared his rabid anger.

Now, if he hadn't been so enraptured in the inferno of his tumultuous emotions mayhap there would have been relic remains of some trinket she had once admired long ago.

The ringing of the brass belle abruptly rattled through the shop making the fiend jerk his head up in alert. With a slight shake of the head he fastidiously banished his thoughts of the past.

True, he hadn't had too many customers since they had learned of his nefarious identity, but there were still a few just desperate enough to strike bargains with him still for their gains or others ill.

Sighing mildly in aggravation, the fiend stood up and patted at the dust on his suit causing more gray specs to drift into the musty air.

A part of him hoped it was Belle paying him a visit from a lunch break perhaps as some time she was wont to do, but then again she would have probably quietly slipped in through the back and wandered into his storage rooms for a small chat, not come in through the front like some worthless customer.

Whoever it was, he hoped they hadn't come to waste his time. After nearly thirty years, everyday was bringing something new and throwing the town of Storybrooke into a constant pitching flux. What he didn't need was some love struck young pup who wanted muscles to impress a girl or an air headed lass looking for a potion to save her child or any other ridiculous desire.

His left hand slipped inconspicuously into his suit pocket, his fingers rapping upon the cold steel of a loaded gun as he walked cautiously to the front.

Far to many people nowadays were on the hunt for blood, and he wasn't a fool to assume some brash hot headed hero wouldn't try to take him down after all he had done and the thread of fate he had woven so callously for his own ends. And besides, it took less energy to simply shoot an intruder, hungry for blood, than to snap his wiry fingers and change them into a rose.

"Ah, Miss Swann." Gold smiled slyly, instantly relaxing upon seeing the fair haired sheriff glaring murderously at him. If looks could kill he would have been a pile of ash wafting upon the breeze a thousand times over.

Though they held no love loss for one another, he was certain she wouldn't attempt putting a gun to his head just yet no matter how she desired to see his blood drain from his body like a stuffed pig.

He slowly padded behind the counter, his mud brown eyes dancing in mischievous delight at her disapproving glance. "And what can I do for you today?" He inquired in his pleasant manner that always seemed nearly on the verge of mocking or scorning laughter.

Emma stared hard at the smirking businessman, her eyes twin sapphires that attempted to slash into his rarely discarded cool demeanor, and failing miserably.

Anger still gripped her when she even thought about the incident with Henry and the pain and voided nothingness of seeing her child upon the hospital gurney; dead and heart stilled from its youthful rhythm. Never would she forget staring blankly at the pale pearly blue lips and the white ashen pall that had crept over his skin as though the blood had evaporated from his tiny form as fog does against the light of morn.

Forcing the anger and her pride down in a hard lump for another day, the sheriff all but hissed at the Dark One. "I need to make a deal." She spat. Every word was akin to bile vomiting from her lips.

Ah those words. Mr. Gold closed his eyes briefly and took a moment to relish their sweetness; his smirk widening into a full blow lascivious grin that normally heralded trouble.

To bargain and barter was what he lived for, it fueled his body and mind; making him truly feel like the gray-gold skinned fiend he was in years past. A falsetto chortle, so unlike the Mr. Gold of this world, nearly slipped from his throat, but he managed to suppress the maniacal urge.

"What in particular do you need?" He asked, mildly intrigued as he gazed up and down upon the sheriff's determined stature. "And more importantly what can you give me in return?"

Emma turned from the infuriating fiend, disgusted of even looking upon him, as she slowly drifting to the squat grime caked window that only managed to bring a pitiful spattering of golden light into the dim, dusty filled shop.

What she was about to ask wasn't easy. She certain didn't want to divulge such an open show of weakness to the cunning Mr. Gold; knowing he would store it away to possibly use for a later advantage. To Emma it appeared that everyone had an advantage save her, and that's what she desired to change.

She began to speak, but her words, weak and tremulous, failed her the first time before she put a damper on her trepidation and pressed on. "Do you have a way to tell the outcome of this war?"

Gold arched a thick brow and planted both hands against his glass counter top as he tilted forward slightly. "You want to know the future, Miss Swann?" He asked for clarification.

"Only what will happen if we…I fail." She whispered ashamedly as though Regina were standing there in that very room perking her ears to every word of fear that drove Miss Swann and wrapped its sinuous tendrils of doom about her soul.

It was painful to admit, but since Ashley had been so easily spirited away, doubt had plagued her every waking moment and stalked the realms of her most vivid nightmares.

The fiend stood taken aback for a moment at a sudden revelation, yet his face remained neutral and controlled. "You don't want a fight with Regina, do you, Miss Swann." He asked, but it sounded surer than anything he had said in a very long time.

"I only want to see what will happen if we chose not to fight and give up now!" She snapped persistently, her voice wavering in betrayal of her fear.

It was only in that moment Gold noticed her indigo eyes wild with dark rimmed circles beneath; her cloths and hair were ruffled and dishelmed. Fear enthralled Miss Swann, terribly so.

Abruptly her feral look dissipated back behind her normally grisly calm. "As payment, I can offer you security in keeping Belle from dangerous jobs." True, that also benefited her, but he didn't have to know that.

The offer stunned the Dark One nearly to the point where he shouted a decisive impetuous yes, but he bit it back with an inward scolding towards his rash eagerness. Anything that would secure Belle's everlasting safety he desired nearly more than anything else. Though it truly was a deal to move upon, he knew he could get more out of such a bargain.

Nodding slowly, as though mulling it over in his mind and dealing the cards of pros and cons, he played it off nonchalantly, not giving a hint of his excitement. "I'll accept only on two other stipulations." He stated coolly.

Emma paused for a moment, her eyes narrowed imperceptibly measuring every word fallen from the devious Mr. Gold's mouth before she even entertained the thought of accepting. "And that would be…" She pressed for more info.

The Dark One pointed to her. "You, Miss Swann, need to relate to me everything you see from your little vision to the beyond."

"And." She breathed in exasperation. The fair haired sheriff wasn't one to play words games and waste time.

To her surprise the fiend almost seemed to grow timid before her very eyes. The once hard hearted, conniving Gold was transformed to a shy, bashful waif of a man as he toyed with a dangling diamond bauble upon a stained glass Tiffany lamp. "I…uh…I desire to do something for Belle. Something special, mind you." He shrugged nearly making him look like a whole new man. "Though I am afraid romance is not exactly my forte."

In a word, when it came to doing special things, he was completely, incomprehensibly at a loss.

Emma blinked owlishly at the Dark One, having no reasonable idea how to answer such a piteous request. He wasn't invested into the thought of overthrowing Regina, but instead how to bring a smile to his loves face and fill her with happiness.

For a moment she tried to find a way to answer to the payment he desired for his services, but on another thought discarded the notion to focus on the important task at hand.

"Why do I have to tell you, why can't you see yourself?" She crossed her arms glaring at him in accusing suspicion.

He chuckled dryly as he ducked into the back of the shop. His voice echoed about in his accented timbre while he searched about for the item she so sought. Perhaps he too was relived that subject wasn't the first matter of business they had to handle.

"Funny thing about futures." He grunted slightly in amusement before reappearing in the front room with a dusty wooden box. "Usually whoever possess' the item cannot see into it themselves."

Winking roguishly at the sheriff the magical deviant shrugged. "Ironic isn't it, Miss Swann?"

Laying the dusty box on the counter, Rumpelstiltskin swiped the top clean with a billowing breath that sent more grime dancing upon the already dank air.

On its cover, Emma noticed a large, faded eye painted in red with black tears running down the widened orb.

Pulling the top off, he produced an unadorned large silver bowl akin to a cistern. "A scrying bowl. An Oracle some call it." He explained to the confused curse breaker.

Snapping his wiry finger, the beast conjured waters to the container.

The smile he wore never left his face as he leaned closer to Emma, his voice low and tempting. "Well Miss Swann, do we have an agreement on price?"

"Done." She deadpanned instantly. What reason did she have to hide anything from him at any rate? And as for the rest, well she was pretty certain she knew Belle's type; bookish and quiet loving simple things.

He proffered his darkly glowing purple hand to the basin just as the crystalline waters began to swirl and roil. "Then take a look, but be warned Miss Swann, to open the veil of the future is very dangerous and vague. It can only give you _a _possible outcome in the case of millions. In your case it's what might happen if you do and what if you don't."

Emma nodded absently as she leaned precariously over the bowl. The crystal waters reflection shimmered and swirled upon her skin making her flesh seem oddly ethereal. Her blue eyes sat riveted to the waters that looked exactly the same to Mr. Gold, but opened a whole new world to her eyes only.

_Light of all hues and tints darted all about Emma Swann like flitting vibrant fireflies swarming her vision and dipping to an innocuous tune only they could hear. Noise of roars and whispers and cries and curses filled her ears and pummeled her senses from every conceivable direction until she thought she might go deaf. _

_Try as she might to put her hands to her ears she suddenly realized she had no hands to do so and no ears to cover though she felt her reflexes moving as though they were. _

_For a time she thought Gold had tricked her with his magic's and she might very well fall into madness. He could have possibly desired her out of the way; seeing her as a potential wrench in some plan or other. But then again, what would he get out of such a deception? _

_Abruptly the colors and noise damped and slowed until the sheriff could make out an image somewhat clearly as though looking through a dirty glass to the outside world. _

_She was akin to a ghost, watching those from above with morbid curiosity. _

_Below her, she could see an auspicious Regina all trussed up in her best natty, dark blue business suit staring at the conquered or perhaps given up rebels who had sought to 'over throw' her rule. A glossy crimson smile pinioned upon her features devious features as her eyes roved the haggard mass gathered before her. _

_Though she couldn't hear the words being spoken, Emma saw herself personally admitting defeat and the hard blow that came along with it. Slowly, the people who had rallied behind her wandered off looking almost dazed and confused at their defeat or surrender. _

_If that was all to the preening sorceress' staunch victory then Emma had to admit simply forgoing a fight seemed better than first anticipated. Who knew, with her victory in hand, Regina might allow things to fall back into a type of normalcy and disregard the whole uprising. _

_As if on cue, the scene transformed, making the spectral Emma gasp with out lips. Granny's diner was dark and deserted; the windows busted out and haphazardly boarded and locked up. A tattered eviction bulletin nailed upon the door fluttered in the cold air of what felt like a now perpetual winter in the small town of Storybrooke Maine. _

_The scene suddenly shifted and she witnessed the poor Ruby covered in laced red and black mourners shroud weeping piteously over her beloved guardian's grave that was little more than a small lump of cold rock. 'Murder' was the entire epithet that was engraved upon the coarse stone. _

_A hard, hot lump caught in a vice in Emma's throat. Had Regina done that? Her body tried to move to Ruby to offer words of comfort or plead for forgiveness, but the images faded and swirled to another more heart rending. _

_Mary Margaret wandered about a large patch of dirt that served as the Storybrooke penitentiary prison yard. Her once bright features were beaten and worn with melancholy as though a force had pummeled her down for years as some sort of malignant penance. _

_No longer could a soft smile be seen upon her face, but a constant frown that looked as though it had been etched there for eternity; carved there with a sinister hand and frozen with a gust of bitter wind. _

_Emma watched in numb silence as her mother padded to the barbed wire fence that divided the men and women's penitentiary. On the other side was James, looking the same as his love, his face sallow with hurt and loneliness gorged into his features. _

_Long, winding scars festooned their hands, some old and gray other vibrant red and swelling as a testament they had actually dare slip their hands through the barbed wire to touch one another. Now they couldn't dare get close to the fence, for sparks and the warning hiss of electricity rippled off the steel and sharpened links. _

_So close and yet so far. Only Regina could have come up with a torment that utterly cruel, Emma knew disparagingly. _

_Tears of sorrow and frustration that felt as though they weren't there coursed down her face relentlessly as the image shifted once more. This time however, the tears dried to nothingness upon the wind. Hot and seething anger took its place along with the image of Regina Mills herself. _

_The arrogant shrew reclined languidly in her burgundy leather armchair as she watched the world of Storybrooke slink by in their chilled misery. Her gray green eyes sparkled fiendishly in some light of everlasting victory. Finally, wholly, she had won. _

_Her dark painted finger tips tented together lightly as she hummed a little ditty that made Emma grind her teeth in annoyance. _

"_Miss Swann how is my schedule today?" She asked without turning her chair about. _

_The words, the first she had heard in her trance of the scrying pool, rocked the sheriff to no small degree. Panic within the witnessing blonde, thinking Regina could actually see her presence, swelled fearfully inside. Why had Regina called her name? _

_A moment later Regina turned about and so did the ethereal Miss Swann. The curse breakers eyes filled with knowing terror as she saw herself standing humbly in front of Regina's large oaken desk with her head tilted to a note pad. _

_Her one flowing, golden hair and been hacked off shortly, and her face was marbled in fear and weariness. Deep wrinkles gouged out of her forehead, and her eyes were dulled like unpolished quartz. _

_A sigh escaped the defeated Emma's lips as she scribbled a few words on the pad. "You've two meeting today, your majesty. And don't forget you promised to meet." Her voice choked only for a moment, but she managed to swallow her grief. "Henry down at the park." _

_Regina flicked a dismissing motion with her hand towards the cowed Emma. "Yes, yes. Now get the car ready will you I'll be down in a minute." _

"_Yes, your majesty." The conquered Emma replied as she slipped away. _

_If the ethereal Emma could have slumped to the floor in shock, she would have. Her mind reeled at the scene of the smirking Regina and the subdued Emma. So this was to be her ultimate fate, no more than a lackey to the cunning sorceress until she died? _

_That would be just like the royal witch, Emma reckoned dourly. What better torment than to make her serve Regina. No, instead of putting her under heavy guard in prison, the harpy had decided to keep her close, to watch her personally._

_The images blurred once more, this time brining the scenes of rousing victory instead of low defeat. Everyone she had made acquaintances with in her short time in the backwoods town stood in a grand golden ballroom. The towering windows were thrown open, bereft of their blue drapes and the chandeliers above twinkled as golden jewels reflecting the candles in their lofty prisms. _

_Gowns of gleaning silk and inlayed with pearls adorned the women, as suits of white with red sashes and tunics garbed the men. _

_They were in there old world, Emma knew instinctively. The curse had been broken, and somewhere Regina laid dead departed of her head with maggots making her body their home. _

_The crowds milled and chatted in low hums of cheer, glasses clinked, and laughter arose from the merry tumult. _

_It was a bright future, one of promise and victory. Emma saw herself, hanging back from the throngs, in the candles shadows. She could only smile at herself, seeing her pluck and pull at the cream colored dress embroidered with ivy, more than likely wishing she had her jeans and leather jacket back. _

_She witnessed her son, Henry, all trussed up as any young prince should be, but ever the child, he laughed and darted about the legs of the patient adults with another, shaggy brown haired boy giving chase. _

_Far on the other side of the illustrious ballroom, the lanky Mr. Gold stood watching the crowd as well. His skin was a mottled gray gold, like snake scales, and his warm chestnut orbs were tinted a fathomless black, but the resemblance was too precise for it to have been anyone else._

_He was a beast, and yet there at the time, all trussed up in some flamboyant raiment, looked not so dastardly as usual. _

_Others gave him a respectful or fearfully wide berth as his voided sable eyes vapidly scanned the crowd. Once or twice a few people would scuffle over to him their cloaks and heavy skirts scuffling and rustling to offer him a curt bow and low words. _

"_It gets easier." James whispered to the cold faced fiend as he dare put a hand of comfort of Rumpelstiltskin's shoulder. "A death is never easy to overcome." _

_Before she could inquire more, the world about her dimmed and paled. The people about her seemed to melt like water hitting a painting making the colors drip and run._

_She tried to focus to bring the image back, yet it dulled and grayed and finally all went black._

Emma gasped breathlessly as she shot out the trance. Her whole body shook tremulously and her knees wobbled like melting Jell-O.

"Steady now; I've got you." Mr. Gold stood by her side, helping her stand.

How she wanted to shrug off his aid and push him away, but the fair haired sheriff knew her quaking legs would not support her alone.

Sitting her in an antique armchair, the fiend stood back, watching Emma intently, his eyes scanning her for the most inkling of detail.

"So, what did you see?" He finally probed once her breathing steadied and the shock was replaced one more with her hateful glare.

Her promise came back to mind once more with a startling shock. Their bargain had been to relate all that had happened in the vision, yet she knew without a doubt if he were to learn their victory might come at the hands of Belle's demise, for whom else could her father have been referring to, nothing good would come of it.

No one else she believed was brave, or crazy, enough to love Mr. Gold, and no one save Belle was special enough to him to make him look so pale and distraught as he had in the vision.

Even to hint at such an outcome, he would most assuredly drag Belle as far away from the rebellion as possible to keep her close and safe; to hell with what she desired.

Thoughts of simply not telling him reared in her mind, but then again she had given her word.

After a few moments of heavy indecision, the sheriff cautiously related her tale, but at the very ending skipped over the last few details; hoping the Dark One did not notice her deception.

For a hearts beats she nearly thought he suspected an inkling of her bypassing of the truth. But the look melted into a thoughtful stare, as his weathered brow knit furitively. It was a looked that relievingly testified to Emma that he hadn't caught on to her tactile re-wording or her juncture where she had skipped a few details.

In the end, she concluded, no matter how special Belle was to the Dark One, one person did not trump the greater good; not even Mr. Gold's true love.


	8. Findings part II

_A/N: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! You all are all awesome and yes even _**you!**

**~8~8~**

"This is it, Apartment 136 Dark Forest lane." Belle whispered timidly as she stood upon the old, thread worn welcome rug outside the off white chipped door that presumably led to her fathers home.

The place wasn't much to look at by any stretch of the imagination. It had been dubbed Infinite Acres and was an old squat concrete colored apartment complex that looked akin to one of the guard towers in their old world. The buildings sat right at a cropping of a thick gloomy coppice of infected pines constantly over shadowing the building like an ever lasting shade of misery.

Signs of poor upkeep, from the treacherously warped wooden steps to the wind blown litter piled and strewn in the niches and overhangs, all told testament to her of a dingy domicile that was more than likely crawling with filth.

Compared to some of the neglect gnawing away at the ramshackle building as maggots did a rotting carcass, it made her old dungeon in Rumpelstiltskin's castle look tidy and hospitable. But none of that mattered, aesthetics were meaningless, for presumably, this is where her dear Papa lived now in this world.

After there last encounter she longed to see him again. Her heart yearned to explain what she could not all those years ago. Now he could see that she wasn't crazy, as he had assumed all those years ago when she had returned a free woman.

In her newly resorted mind the beauty could see the last image she had of him, standing mournfully in his repaired study, cascaded in the last hazy light of evening streaming in from a towering window, as the guards gingerly dragged her away to the forest tower meant for those whose mind were lost and broken.

Back then he had thought her a stark, raving mad lunatic, going on about how her master was a kind man, and how there was softness beneath the glimmering scales of gray and gold.

Poor Papa, he had been deceived just as the ostentatious witch had deceived her those long days ago upon the rain slick path to the village.

And then he had lived all those years thinking his broken, mad daughter had plummeted to her death from the highest pinnacle of the forest tower; unable to cope with freedom in an insane mindset.

"Well no more." Belle murmured under her breath, determined to set thing aright. Courage swelled within her like a tide; emboldened by the warm thoughts of reuniting with her dear father and setting things as they once were.

Rapping sharply on the door, her heart soared into her tight throat as she was instantly met with the sound of rustling and dull footsteps padding in her direction. The chains on the other side of the door rattled and jangled as pudgy fingers deftly removed the many locks upon the opposite end of the door.

Belle held her unsteady breath in trepidation as the last click of a lock seemed to echo about the crisp air like a chime of destiny. The rusted hinges upon the door creaked in an ear piercing groan as the heady stench of alcohol and damp cigars oozed from the portal. And there in the dim light her father stood.

His skin was paled and sallow in a sickening light while his eyes were watery and dull to nearly the point of lifelessness stagnating in their glazed depths. To Belle it seemed as though the rigors of life had pulled at his corpulent flesh with their corpse-like hands to strip him of any happiness it possibly could.

"Rent's paid." He grumbled sleepily as his thick, grubby hands wiped the haze of slumber and smoke from his dark circled eyes. "G'way."

"Papa." A voice quiet voice he had only heard in dreams whispered.

His eye wrenched open in shock, now fully awake as though some one had doused him with icy water, to see his daughter standing upon the threshold of his wretched little home.

Her deep cobalt orbs, so like her mothers, were welled in a bank of misty tears she stocially held back through miraculous sheer strength of will alone.

"B-Belle…?" He stuttered in amazement, his eyes blinking rapidly as though she were a figure conjured up by pungent vapors that wisped from his home and the wickedness of the brews he imbibed.

The beauty nodded slowly, her smile quivering upon her pink lips. "Yes, Papa."

No more was spoken as her father scooped her in a massive, enveloping hug. He held her close to his reeking alcoholic form, sobs and words blubbering from him all at once as his hot tears drenched her russet curls. "My girl, my Belle. How is this possible?" He had seen her broken body under the darkened canopy and the blood morbidly pooled about her limp figure in the kings forest.

Memories of the scene where he looked upon her skull that possessed one long snaking crack in it, like the crack tapering through an ancient vase, still haunted him to his core. Her dull blue eyes that had looked almost akin to glass had stalked his dreams every night; glaring at him accusingly with their piercing indigo stare.

Once he had been so certain of her death and mourned it daily, and now...

The lovely young woman held her papa close, her head lying upon his shoulder. "It's all very complicated. There is so much we need to talk about what happened."

"Yes my girl, anything you like." He pulled away from the hug and held her at arms length. A proud, happy smile creased his puffy face as he looked her over once more. "But I have some news of my own. Wonderful news."

With that, he let her go and proffered a hand into his dim smoke hazed domicile.

The apartment was modestly clean; given that there was not much to be held in the rooms, save for the most Spartan of necessities.

The heavy stench of smoke permeating the sparse furniture and the sharp bite of alcohol seemed to rise from the dark splotches of liquors dried upon the filthy carpet. Her father plopped down in a battered old chair and motioned a hand to a nearby ragged ottoman nearly void of its stuffing for her to pull up.

"I'm sorry the place is so pitiful. My lot here in this world was not to be prosperous." He revealed with a mild hint of bitterness.

A racking cough abruptly assailed his bloated form, making him wheeze and rattle as his body bent over double in its forceful exultations. Belle began to try soothing him, but her father waved her off to take his coughing fit in his always proud stride.

Immediately Belle was at her father's side, as she had been many years when the ogres had invaded their realm.

A soft hand fell upon his shoulder as she attempted to soothe his hurts in a way that would not sting his pride. "I see much hasn't changed." She laughed half heartedly, but the chuckle died as quickly as it had come.

"Oh no, dear girl much has changed." He corrected her with a weak strange grin plastered upon his tubby features. "Or will change once Regina wins."

Alarm pierced the beauty at such a devious, flagrant, even proud admittance. Smoke scathed down her throat, but she managed to hold back her own raucous coughing and desperate wants of fresh air in the face of such sudden trepidation towards his words.

Her brow knit in incomprehension; this could not be her dear father speaking of Regina as those on the other side spoke of Emma. "Papa what are you talking about?" She inquired warily in a soft confused voice.

"I'm talking about Regina defeating the curse breaker!" He explained adamantly, his large fleshy hand curling into meaty fists. "If she wins then all the power will be hers! She has promised me revenge upon that beast Rumpelstiltskin." He engulfed his daughters hand in his own. "And now my girl we may seek our vengeance on the diabolical creature that sought to harm us; that took you away from me."

Belle with drew her hand from her fathers vehement grip as though she had laid hands upon a poisonous adder.

The bellicose nature flashing in his melancholic eyes was far from the sweet, kind papa she had known ages past. What had changed him?

She shook her head disbelievingly. "Papa I will take no revenge on Rum. He is my true love."

Had he not learned the truth of her words yet? Had not all that time staunchly defending her Rumpelstiltskin, not broken through his stubbornness? Could he, after all this longing time apart had past, still not accept the fact or acknowledge it?

"What?" Maurice rasped in disbelief. The blustered rage and the light of vengeance blew out of him at her revelation like a gust of wind against a candles bright flame. "Belle after all this time you cannot still think that you love that beast!"

"Papa-" The maple haired beauty began imploringly, but her father held up is hand regally as though he were still a monarch.

His face was marred in brutish, disgusting anger that skewed his normally jovial features into something horrid. Rather suddenly the former king angrily pushed himself up from his chair and away from his daughter. "No Belle. I did not believe it the first time and I do not believe it now. No one could possibly love that…that filthy animal! You convinced yourself he loved you to keep your spirits up while in his thrall. He broke you Belle and warped your mind for all the things he's done!"

"That's not true." Belle stated firmly, her cobalt orbs flashed in defense of her Rum as she felt long suppressed anger that she had known when first coming back to her father's kingdom spring anew. "You don't know him. I thought he was a beast as well, and then…something changed my mind. Papa he is a man, a good kind man who-."

"Was that _Thing _good or kind when he beat into a concussion?" Moe roared furiously as he pointed to his face where there were still hints of injuries mottled here and there that Belle had mistook for sickness or too much ale. "Was it good or kind as he battered me with the tip of that gold cane? Or maybe when the doctors had to do surgery to stop the swelling in my brain and my profuse bleeding. No, perhaps it was when I was told I would never regain full sight in my left eye from a particularly vicious blow to the side of my face. Maybe you think the excessive wounds from scars and gashes given to me by the pointed edges of that eagle talon cane handle were good and kind!"

Belle looked away from her furiously screaming father; his words reverberating off the paper thin walls while sinking into her heart.

For one so bright and tactful, she had nothing to say to counter his all to true words.

So that's what Emma had been referring to, she concluded in a small part of her mind that recalled the words slipped by the sheriff. Rum beating her father very literally near deaths door. Why had he not told her?

In her heart, she felt pain take its bony hands wrench at the throbbing aorta with the knowledge that her father was right in a way. Nothing Rum had done showed him to be changed, just especially cruel when it came to things that alluded to her.

Froth and spittle gathered at the edge of his beer slick lips, as he stared hard at his daughter. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, his once hard eyes melted to pleading and desperation. "Please Belle; you can't really believe he's changed, or that he is more than he appears. Stay with me and fight for Regina then when the time is right he will pay."

"I can't, Papa." Replied the beauty shaking her head sorrowfully. Her voice was fraught with melancholy, emotion tightening its grip till she felt her throat close in a vice. "I love him." She whispered softly. Nothing would ever change that fact.

Moe stared breathlessly at his daughter for long minutes. How had this come around so? She was his little girl, the child he had hauled upon his shoulder through the green fields of summer, and the little one he had held and let cry till she drifted off to sleep when her dear mother passed from the realm of the living.

She was the girl he had watched with pride grow into a bright, pleasant, if not odd young lady that brought suitors from all the lands to woo her and praise her of her gentle beauty. She was to have married the hunter and knight Gaston who would one day rule his kingdom. Little grandchildren should have been pattering about at his feet asking their grandfather for another story. They would have all been happy and content with their live in their quiet little kingdom.

Then that beast, that rabid, animal had come and changed all that. His corruption had delved deeply into his child like a malignant disease worming its way to infect the bone. Rumpelstiltskin had taken his daughter and brain washed her into some pet he could flaunt around simply for his vile amusement.

Ice ensorcelled his heart as his gaze hardened once more to his dau-, no, he corrected himself, the beasts whore. "Then you are no better than him." He growled lowly like a peal of thunder.

He saw his only daughter flinch as though he had backhanded her, and for just a moment longed to take the words back and say he loved her and she would always be his little girl.

Instead, he plodded heavily over to the entrance of the smoke filled apartment. Jerking the rotting door open he pointed a thick, work calloused finger out into the clear light of day. "If you will not join your family, then you can go back to your beast. He is all that will accept you now, since you think you desire him as your true love."

For a moment she opened her mouth to say something, but promptly shut it once again as she fought backs her tears. He wouldn't understand; he would never understand. His heart burned with an unquenchable inferno for vengeance.

Even if she explained the truth about Regina he would still scheme with her cohorts all for even the hint of an opportunity to gut Rumpelstiltskin.

Rising frigidly, the beauty strode out with her head held high like a noble woman should; like her mother would have.

At the doorstep, the beauty paused her mournful trek and turned to her cold papa. His head was turned away from her as though he were far to disgusted to even set his eyes upon her anymore.

Did he see her now as he saw Rumpelstiltskin; a tainted beastly thing meant to be killed? At the unpleasant thought Belle had to stifle an icy shiver.

"That's the thing about True Love, Papa." She flashed a small sad smile. "We don't choose who we fall in love with."

Her father snorted once at such a ridiculous notion and slid back into the apartment and away from his traitorous daughter who would pick a devious monstrosity over her last remaining family.

What had gone wrong, she pondered as she jumped at the heavy slam of the door behind her. The meeting had started off with such promise, such joy. And now…

And now, she felt the hot salty tears brook down her face as she numbly took her leave of the abominable apartment complex and her father who had for the second time shunned her return.

~8~8~

"Hey, stranger." A quiet male voice hailed Belle pleasantly.

The beauty, still distraught over the disastrous reunion with her sick Papa, paid no heed to the rather cheery if not dark voice that greeted her warmly. Her hand absently moved in slow circles as she wiped the counter clean, barely in tune with the diner atmosphere milling about her at all.

"Uh, Miss French." The voice tried again, unsurely as he warily tapped her on the shoulder.

The touch, akin a jolt of lightening, shocked Belle out of her trance, making her remember where she was and what she was doing. Snapping her head up quickly, the lovely young waitress met the warm raven dark eyes of her rescuer, Jefferson.

Though she hadn't seen him since his desperate action to save her, she noted a decisive difference had culminated in him. To her it seemed as though whatever winter had iced his heart had melted into a blooming spring finally, making his crazed glint in his eyes disappear.

No more were his features, gouged with lines of plotting or misery. The madness she had once seen flashing in those onyx orbs seemed tamed and controlled. A smile, not grim as the other she had once witness, marbled across his handsome face as though he were the happiest man on earth.

Belle blinked and shook her head slightly in attempts to banish the far off 'up in the clouds' melancholic thinking she had fallen into since departing from her papa. "Jefferson, it's good to see you again." She smiled warmly at him though the gesture felt strained.

"Good to see you too, and looking well adjusted to this…" He paused and made a laconic flitting gesture about the diner. "This existence."

A chuckle came unbidden to Belle's lips at his observant quip. "Well, if it wasn't for you I would have never had the opportunity to grow used to much of anything." She pointed out and crinkled her nose.

"My Papa rescued you, so he's a hero!" A child's voice piped up abruptly. Startling Belle.

A young girl hopped up once or twice, valiantly trying to scale a stool all by herself. Even though she was about the same height.

Jefferson offered an embarrassed little chortle, a bit of pink bruising upon his pale cheeks as he finally helped his daughter up upon the red and stainless steel stool, much to her prideful chagrin. He shrugged bashfully at Belle about to apologize for his daughter's outburst.

"You know, you are most certainly right…uh" Her bright cobalt depths flickered to Jefferson for a name of the young girl.

"Grace." Replied the haberdasher proudly. His chest seemed to puff out and face alight with glee and happiness. "My daughters name is Grace."

Belle grinned as she leaned upon the counter. "Grace, that's a lovely name."

"What's yours, if you don't mind me asking?" Grace queried in the indefatigable childish curiosity that Belle had never outgrown.

"Belle." She replied simply enough. A spattering of the induced curse still dwelling inside her mind wanted to tack French on her title, but given the bout with her father she doubt he would have liked for her to carry his name in this world or the previous.

No, just as in those time he had dubbed her an out cast, and out cast didn't have family.

The small girls eyes widened in sudden recognition as though putting a piece to a puzzle together. "Oh so you're that Belle my daddy keeps having to defend from everyone who keeps saying you're the scary Mr. Gold's-" She got no further as Jefferson clapped a hand over her mouth; flushing a beet red in sheer embarrassment.

"I'm sorry." He sputtered in awkwardly, not quite certain how to overcome such an inappropriate subject from his child as he removed his hand.

The child nodded, not comprehending such things were not suitable to talk about, and continued on, thankfully, to other matters. "My old name was Paige, but then in class I remembered that it was Grace and daddy came to pick me up and he took me to his big house to live and he talked to Miss Emma about some mean queen and now we're here for ice-cream!" She jabbered speedily in excitement.

Belle could only laugh at the child who seemingly thought ice cream was the best part of the whole endeavor never mind finding out magic transported them into a different world!

Then again, they all needed a little relief from the looming knowledge of their dire straits, and ice cream seemed just the ticket for such troubles.

"Ah yes, two sundaes, if it's not to much trouble." Jefferson, happy to have forgotten the previous incident, dug into his wallet holding out a few crinkled bills.

Shaking her head stubbornly, the russet haired beauty motioned for him to put back his money. "Two sundaes on the house. It's the least I could do for my hero and his daughter."

As Belle walked off to make the order, she couldn't help but overhear Grace whisper to her Papa. "I like her, she's nice."

Stifling another giggle the beauty turned her head just in time to see her love walking through the door on his daily visit.

Upon seeing her the fiend flashed her a warm smile, but was rebuffed by a cold glare and even icier silence from the beauty who gazed at him with blue fire smoldering in her eyes before turning away without a word.

Even though her father wanted nothing more to do with her, she would not let his beating go unanswered for. It was her father, no matter what he believed of her, and Rum had nearly beaten him to death.

For a moment Belle had the insatiable urge to laugh at the sordid irony, but held it back afraid if it started it would never end in some hysteria of stark madness.

How could she still feel unadulterated love for the man who had done such to her Papa and how could she still feel defense for the father that had shunned her not an hour before?

She swiveled her head back to Jefferson and his daughter, feeling a calm wash over her just looking at the two whisper and play whatever little game Grace deemed.

They too, for so long, had been kept apart and at long last reunited. It was an everlasting reminder that it would all work out, some how, someway even if she felt the world crumbling beneath her with nothing to grab.

With a sigh she disappeared into the kitchen feeling a little better with her emotions strafing across her heart. But, she determined, Rum was not getting off that easily for his actions!

What had been that look she had given the mad hatter, Rum pondered warily after his Belle had vanished.

True, he knew this Jefferson had been her rescuer, and as such he had aided in the process of giving him his daughter back swiftly. But now, seeing the look offered to the hatter by his Belle, was there something else to the haberdasher than he first assumed was nothing more than the desperation of a father such as himself?

A grisly glowering glance of faint suspicion towards the elated, handsome hatter flashed darkly in Rumpelstiltskin's chocolate brown orbs. Even though he seemed harmless enough, the Dark One had to wonder what Belle's look could possibly pertain to between the mad hatter and the beauty.


	9. A Chipped Treasure

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing, Amigos! Hugs!_

**~8~8~**

The ominous flotilla of leaden gray clouds that churned above the small town of Storybrooke seemed to mirror the abject, dark frustration that tirelessly plagued the confused Dark One.

Soft thuds of shoes pounded in an incessant rhythm as he slowly paced the closed, dimly illuminated Pawn Shop like a caged animal that had been mistakenly locked in its dusty antique confines.

The blinds had been drawn and the close sign had been put up allowing for the utmost of privacy away from the streets of Storybrooke. A few windows, minutely cracked let the tell tale heady aroma of an approaching storm slip into the shop filling the establishment with the scent of clouds, pregnant and engorged with cool rain, thunder, and thirsty earth craving the waters of above.

Although he knew it to be only a passing fancy a part if the fiend swore he could make out the fragrance of Belle's anger mingled with that of the storms stealing upon the dusty zephyrs.

And here he had assumed he would try to do something romantic for her before he had learned she was angry with him! Rum scolded himself harshly for whatever he had done to make his Belle upset and so furious.

Thanks to Miss Swann plans to woo Belle had all been so perfectly laid out. He would take his usual routine to the diner, ask her to come by his shop and then, hopefully, sweep her away with the last precious thing he had of her.

But at the restaurant he had been greeted with eyes of cerulean blazing with rage, and an icy demeanor that could have frozen lava solid!

That being the case, he had opted to leave a small note with the impertinent, crass Ruby and only pray to whatever deity of this world would heed him that she would deem to show despite her wrath.

The clang of the back door bell slightly startled the fiend like a sudden boom of thunder, which pounds savagely about the firmament, startles a storm frightened child.

A wary, anxious smile bloomed upon his face as his black heart thumped with vigor akin to a war drum beating a frantic tattoo in his chest. His heart always fluttered at a rapid tempo when Belle was about, no matter the reason, even though he could feel her raw, unbridled anger pulsing from afar in a heat of unadulterated fury.

Words came to his lips, as she materialized, but they never passed the threshold of his mouth as she glowered furiously at him with those azure orbs; harder than the stoniest, frigid sapphire in the deepest dwarven mine.

Now in private he could sense the storm that had been building about Belle, so much like the inclement weather just faintly rumbling outside, fully unleashed.

"You beat my father." Belle seethed enraged as she stomped in front of the calm Mr. Gold; completely unafraid of the man who the entire town feared with just cause.

Oh. Rumpelstiltskin fought the indecent urge to curse darkly under his breath at the revelatory statement that spewed viciously from her lush mouth. How had she found out?

Of course she would have discovered the incident eventually, but he wanted it to be on better terms where he could open and pour his heart to her hands and have her do what she will.

He wanted to select the time and place to relate everything in hopes she would be calm and understand his reasoning and why the beast inside of him had fully taken his sensibilities thrall.

"He stole from me." Gold retorted, attempting not to flinch at her accusatory tone.

She stood boldly in front of him as no one else would have ever dared. Her stature measured only a few inches shorter as her azure orbs flashed angrily like twin daggers being brandished and thrown precisely at his skull. "He is my father, Rum. A desperate man at that! I committed worse crimes in the Dark Castle than simple thievery and you never raised your hand to beat me."

"I once came close if you recall." He was attempted a nervous quip. The mirthless jest withered into ash and charred in the heat her inferno of rage that scorched him relentlessly.

Quite abruptly her anger dissipated as night mist evaporating in the light of a summer's dawn sun. There was a vast weariness behind her eyes, as though she had given up some sort of fight, or was too fatigued to grasp at fury any longer.

A melancholic, exhausted sigh erupted from her pink lips as she pawed a rebellious lock of her honey maple curls from her vision and shook her head lugubriously. "Everyday I prepare myself to defend you. When I walk out of Granny's bed and breakfast, and you leave your house, we depart with the knowledge that those around us think of you as a beast and I am insane for loving you. Day in and day out we must prove them wrong." She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "And then you did this. You bound a man, my father, and savagely beat him to the point of a coma or deaths door!"

"Belle, you don't understand." He replied gently, his accented timbre soft with pleading and nearly begging for her to listen to his reasoning, though he knew no excuse would ever be good enough for her. Despite being the most devious man in all of Storybrooke, her words made him feel ashamed of his action.

Only Belle, he noted with astounding irony, could make him feel like he had been rather beastly, when she adamantly claimed he was the opposite of the monster everyone else saw him as.

While he had never been hesitant to strike an injury or use brute force and ruthless cunning to achieve his ends, when Belle confronted him it made himself look back at his previous interactions with shame.

The indigo eyes of Belle prompted him to be a better man. They reflected his desire to want to do good in their knowing prisms that enveloped his entire being.

For a moment he tilted his head down to his calloused hands to see if they would truly be human hands instead of dirty blood-stained claws of a ghastly beast that terrorized all that dwelled about him.

Her delicate hands, mildly rough from the calluses she had proudly earned from laboring in the Dark Castle smoothed along his coarse five o'clock shadowed cheek. The motion made his head turn up to gaze sorrowfully into her sky blue depths that seemed as though they went on for all eternity.

"What don't I understand?" She asked chokingly. Her misty cobalt orbs begged for answers.

Outside, the rain had just begun to drizzle down to the hard earth. The cold drops pattered haphazardly upon the slightly parted windows bringing the fresh scent of rain and dust and wind, crackling with the storms power, filtering in the shop.

Thunder rumbled gently in the firmament like the racing of horse's hooves pounding across the endless expanse of ashen gray sky just as loud as the pounding of Rumpelstiltskin's dully throbbing heart.

Rum dipped a hand into his suit pocket to meet the feel of cold ceramic. He attempted to steady the shaking of his fingers as he pulled the sacred treasure from his pocket and held the small trinket before her like an offering.

To Rumpelstiltskin it was the holiest of holy grails, a priceless treasure he would never forfeit to any save his Belle.

"He stole your cup, Belle." The Dark One whispered hoarsely; valiantly constraining the flow of scalding tears and fighting through the lump in his throat. "The last thing I had to remember you by and he took it just as though he punched his fist through my chest and stolen my heart along with it. Truth be told, I would have preferred if he had taken that sordid black mass of flesh in my chest rather than this."

Belle stared in stunned amazement at the tiny relic of the past suddenly sprung up before her as though pulled from the meandering flow of time. Memories of their cozy berths by the library hearth and their chats in the Main hall all sprung back to life in her mind.

She recalled him being insistent to use that particular cup and none other everyday he commanded her to serve him tea.

When her curiosity had finally over ridden her first days of timidity towards her master she had asked him why he chose to use a broken piece of ceramic rather than a fine, whole cup.

He had done his high pitched giggle, which she privately longed to hear again, and told her it had taken his fancy. After a moment he also mentioned strange things, just as she, belonged to him in no matter what shape; just because they were odd didn't make them unpleasant or unusable.

His words had made butterflies dance in her stomach those long years ago, but she truly hadn't understood there meaning and neither had he.

She hadn't seen it then, but now she felt as though the cup represented what they were. What, with time, they had transformed into.

Her finger jerked tremulously as she dare gingerly touch the white gilded rim as though it might crust away into dust at the slightest of pressure. "You…you kept this? After all this time?"

Nodding slowly, he smiled in mixed, worn emotion as he tried to damn the tears, but on they came, falling upon his wiry finger and the miniscule cup clutched lovingly in his grip. "I thought I'd loose the last link to you I had. Fear gripped me Belle, that's why I beat him because I couldn't stand the knowledge of what little I had left of you destroyed. It's not an excuse, I know, but I just…I couldn't live without it."

Seeing him so openly raw in his normally pent up emotions that swirled about him as the autumnal leaves spiraled upon the streets in the breath of the storm, filled the beauty with the heavy desire to kiss him.

A sudden longing to crash her mouth to his in a deep, owning kiss and comb her fingers through his dirty brown tresses and lose herself in his heated grip fell upon her in a way that took all her will simply not to throw caution to the wind and comply to her burning lust.

Though she would never like or accept what he had done to her Papa, all was forgiven, for indeed she understood more than he knew. The last things of her Rum was stolen from her as well; her precious memories of him and their time in the Dark Castle. Now she was on the blazing trail of justice to see the thief of a wretched woman brought down.

Had she been in a situation such as she there was no doubt in her mind she would have done the same to whomever had taken such a precious thing.

Tears crowded her intense cobalt depths as she whispered lovingly to him. "Oh, Rumpelstiltskin." She entwined her hands with his own, their grips holding the chipped ceramic tea cup as she kissed him lightly upon his knuckles.

The fiend knew he couldn't return that kiss, in the knowledge that it might go much too far in a path he didn't want to, nor couldn't halt himself from trekking down.

Remorsefully, instead he pulled her close and nuzzled her, dictating her smell of wild honeysuckle and sea salt wafting in from the coast line to memory.

The force of his body colliding with hers as he pressed her up against one of the antique glass cases, made the items placed upon their delicate perches rattle dangerously as did their heated, roiling emotions teetering on the edge of an abyss that would shatter what they had worked so hard to maintain.

"I want to meet my lips to your own. I want to feel every bit of my skin against yours." She sighed regretfully as she returned his affection in nuzzling under his scruffy jaw.

He hugged her tightly in deep understanding of the want and frustration that plagued her so. "I know, Belle-of-mine." He dared press the faintest of fairy wing kisses to her temple before falling back into the safety of simply being close and nuzzling her and basking in her warmth. His dexterous, thin fingers threaded through her dark amber tresses as she whispered loving words unto his chest. "I know." He echoed impossibly soft.

Disengaging from their embrace, the fiends stared lovingly at her, a bit of mischief sparkling in his whisky brown eyes at a sudden idea that profoundly struck him. "Can you call in sick tomorrow, Dearie?" He asked with a hint of roguishness.

Of course even if the answer was no, that hardly mattered much at all. He owned Granny's restaurant and if he decided his Belle would have a day off, she would and no one would dare speak a word otherwise.

They would spend the entire day together in his grand estate, cut off from the cantankerous growth of the rest of the world. In their little repose, both would whisper and speak of the past and offer soft touches that had to make do in lieu of tender kisses.

Her lovely features brightened in happiness and curiosity at his sly tone at his words. A brow perched in suspicion, and then abruptly fell as did her whole countenance. "I would love to, but I am meeting Jefferson tomorrow."

The hatter, as he was known in the old world had graciously offered to catch her up to date on all the happenings; a thing Rum had ducked and dodged stubbornly. Also, Emma had hinted for the pair to be on a mission near the heart of Regina's territory. They were rendezvousing with the curse breaker on the morrow to plan their next action.

Jefferson. The name was beginning to boil Mr. Gold's dark blood like acid flooding through his veins every time he heard or thought about the moniker.

Even in that small, wonderful moment of both love and longing a twixt them, the fiend could only wonder if being bereft of full contact would drive his Belle into the arms of Jefferson who could touch and kiss her whenever he wished and with no ill affects save an envious Dark One breathing down his back.

Nodding in false understanidng, Rum offered a small grin before pulling her back into his arms once again.

Staring grimly hard at the window awash with fat droplets of rain tearing down the panes, he determined himself to find out if anything could be done about their wants for one another before it was too late. And who better to go to but the sorceress of love herself.

~8~8~

"Ah Miss Vanessa, I am happy to see that despite our insignificant incident with curse breaking you could still see me on such short notice." Mr. Gold mocked in a pleasant tone as he stole inside the dim establishment of one who had once only gone by the name Vanessa.

Now, however, she preferred her other worldly title of Ursula.

Her shop was nestled and pinched in a dank niche squeezed between the canneries and docks. Outside the straggly black sackcloth that covered the grimy windows blinked with a harsh red a black neon sign that read 'Palm Reader' with an eye in the center.

Even in this life, Ursula had dabbled in the arts of reading fortunes and playing the strings of love akin to a master puppeteer.

People wandered through from all parts of Storybrooke. Each soul who wandered into her shop braved the rank fish smells, which stalwartly battled the odor of lit incense, in a war that neither stench won, for a hint of their future or loves that might come their way.

Shifting the black beaded curtain with his cane, Rum made himself at home in the back room of the smoky Mediums shop he hadn't strode in in heavens only knew how long.

The corpulent Ursula gazed at the fiend under ink black lashes; her thick mouth curled into a sadistic grin as she pulled another long inhale from her cigarette and let the acrid smoke billow from her nostrils like dragons breath.

"Well well, Rumpelstiltskin, what brings you to my neck of the ocean?" She ribbed in her smokers hoarse voice that rattled in a rasp through her throat as though gravel was clogged down her voice box.

A grimace of disgust marbled upon his coarse features as he lifted up a portion of some weedy nautical themed trinket hanging from the ceiling. "Defiantly not your brilliance in décor." He remarked grisly.

The sea witch merely heaved her thick shoulders and made a dismissing gesture with her plump hand, completely nonplused at his normal rudeness he had had in their old world. "Then you must be here for advice, information." She leaned forward slightly her wheezing voice flagrantly mocking. "Something for your lady love, perchance?"

Rum forced himself not to flinch at her commentary. Her major dealings had always been with love. There was no other reason to come to her otherwise it was something of the heart.

Sighing slightly the fiend traced a wiry digit along a dusty crystal ball. Feeling the gritty grime between his fingers he cast a faint glance her way. "You were always known for discretion, Ursula. I trust this hasn't changed?"

"Oh now you know me, Rumpel." She cackled as though phlegm was caught in her throat. "Ever have I kept my customers business private?"

"All I want is some simple information." He revealed abruptly, all ready weary of her commentary. "So how much will that information cost me?"

Taking another hit of her ever dwindling cigarette a greasy oil slick of a smile bloomed across her sagging jowls. "Well since I am going behind Regina's back to even speak to you, I suppose this raises my price higher. I give you one piece of information, you give me two."

"Deal." He retorted softly as he stood in front of her languishing form laid languorously upon a beaten cough reeking with the stench of the rotting fish from the cannery. Though Rumpelstiltskin was usually not in the business of taking the short end of a bargain, when it came to Belle he found himself playing the love struck fool of yore.

Her grin widened showing rows of yellowed, small sharp, unnatural teeth as she silently beckoned for him to continue with his question with merely a sagely nod of her corpus head.

"Is it possible to do other…things rather than kissing that won't break curses?" He broached quietly, trying his best to term the question as delicately as he could.

His carefully laid question was met with a barrage of grating, mirth filled laughter from the sea witch of love. Smoke from her last puff spilled and wisped from between her mouth as though a cauldron boiled in her belly. "You want to know if you can hump the girl with out having your powers stolen!"

_Crack_!

Pain racked the chuckling seers hand as the last bit of her bright cigarette went soaring from her throbbing grip. A red mark where the cane had struck the large extremity was already beginning to bruise and swell holding testament to the fact Mr. Gold was still not one to be mocked or laughed at.

With one half step he squished the briefly illuminate cigarette out beneath his shoe. "The answer if you please." He stated casually as though nothing had occurred though his brown orbs glinted dangerously.

Rubbing her sore appendage, the witch glared evilly at the Dark One, but continued. "You can do whatever you want. Kissing and only true loves kiss at that will break the tainted spell."

"You're sure?" He pressed, trying to inhibit and smother his abject excitement. Could it truly be that simply? He couldn't show her the most tender of all means of his love, but lying with her was fine? For a moment he nearly accused the psychic for lying, but then again, not even Ursula was that foolish.

"You dare question my expertise, Rumpel? I am insulted. Believe me, I know how it works. And you see that's the rub of it all. Kissing is the only thing you want to do, everything else feels…shallow." She gave another coarse laugh. "And besides, who do you think told Regina about it those long years ago?"

Her? She had been the one to reveal the secret of true love kiss that had decimated his happiness with Belle? Rum began to give a snapping retort, summoning a haze of purple magic to his palm, when the witch waved her hand dismissively. "Now, about my payment."

The Dark One growled, forcing himself not to blast the sow ten thousand leagues under the sea. "Ask away, you soulless hag." He spat caustically.

"Is there a way that if the curse is completely broken some may stay on this side?" She asked. Her thick brow arched in inquisitiveness.

Rum snorted derisively at such a simpleton's inquiry, he expected a little more from the witch, not a question which would have been common sense. "Of course not. We're either here or there, all or nothing."

"Pity." Ursula commented dourly as she tapped at the crinkled, nearly depleted, box of cigarettes to bring forth another stick. "I can't smoke under water."

"And…" Rum persisted impatiently attempting to move the chat along; not caring in the least for her petty personal problems.

Now that he had the information he desired he couldn't wait to be free from the fish stench and layered wretchedness of spiced smoke and incense raising a foggy haze to the ceiling.

Ursula grinned. "Do you still have the quill you dictated the contract with?"

Even at that, in all his sly deviousness the Dark One was given pause. His breath sucked sharply back into his body as the only hint of his surprise by the tactile question.

"Come now, Rum, you knew your inquiry for you supposed love would come with a heavy toll." She chortled in an amused snort.

Did he truly think it would be that easy?

Staring at her for long, hard moments, his mind racing in a frenzied kaleidoscope, the Dark One simply nodded, knowing the information would be directly ferried to Regina. "Yes." He stated simply and walked slowly from the still grinning physic watching him stalk away.


	10. Dire Straights

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! You guys don't know how much it means to me that people read the stories I write. (I secretly think it keeps me cognitively sane XD just kidding.) _

**~8~8~**

The small apartment of Snow White was near filled to bursting at the amount of people stuffed into it stylish, brick walled, confines. While the fighters against Regina usual haunt for meetings had been out in the open of Granny's diner where none who sided with the gloating witch ever dare tread foot, tonight was far more important than making plans between cups of steaming coffee and bites of sandwiches.

No, tonight, they struck back at the revenge driven monarch who had damned them to this harrowing, miserable existence in this strange land. Tonight they were thoroughly determined to give back as good as Regina had given to them; mayhap more so.

"Archie, you have the USB?" Emma asked in a grimace that expertly masked her glimmering hope of optimism. For the first time they actually had a good shot to swing a thunderous blow the vicious sorceress' way.

Once a thief before his existence as the conscience, helpful cricket Jiminy, a little breaking and entering was mere child's play. Thanks to Ruby who either seduced the 'guards', posing as police, in her exotic human form or had them running in abject terror, with a pair of slavering wolf fangs snapping on their heels, the heist had been more than simple enough for the physiatrists to finally put his old skills to some good use.

The timid doctor looked to Ruby, who gave him a small mischievous, proud grin and a slight nudge with her hip for him to step forward. Swallowing anxiously, Archie handed over the nondescript black USB, hopefully containing information Regina did not want known to them.

The curse breaker stared at what could have been a monumental blow to Regina, toying with the small item nervously. A weary sigh fell past her lips as her eyes scanned the armed crowed before her. "Alright, let's see if Belle's and Jefferson's Intel was spot on." She looked to the equally as anxious pair offering them a small begrudged nod. "They went through a lot of trouble to find out about this thing."

"Well don't keep us waiting, sister." Grumpy finally exclaimed, simply speaking what was on every one's mind.

Turning to an old computer upon the counter, Emma slipped the USB into one of the ports. Prayers whispered frantically under her trepid breath as she tapped at a few keys.

There was a moment of silence where none dare breathe as she made the last click of the mouse.

Pixels darkened briefly instilling the throngs with disappointment before popping back up with a host of file icons and information bursting upon the screen in a feast of knowledge so preciously coveted by Regina.

A rousing cheer echoed deafeningly through the apartment as people watched the brightly colored pixels display their desperately needed info concerning what new move the sadistic witch was plotting.

"You both were right." Emma grinned as she pulled up a file revealing a black and white picture of a cavernous lake only illuminated by ripples glistening off the cameras flash and a few old time, grime ridden mining lanterns.

James pointed to the screen, a small smile pecking his lips. "That's it, that's the water that runs by the well where Mr. Gold brought us back magic."

"Yeah no wonder Regina was trying to get grubby hands all over it. If what Belle said was true then this water has some major magical abilities." Emma replied as she brought the files down and slipped the USB in the safety of her crimson leather jacket.

A spot of soft pink dotted the beauty's cheeks at the remark. She highly doubted Rum would appreciate relating personal discussions, but when Grumpy had overheard a few of Regina's malicious cohorts chatting, it had been due reason to bring it up.

The information had sent the rebels in a tail spin. While Regina seemed to be on the defensive as of late, she had been truly looking for a way to use the waters that ran below in the mines in order to do away with them once and for all.

Abruptly in their celebration, the sheriff clapped her hands for silence, her steely blue eyes challenging anyone to disobey the imperious gesture. "So we know for a fact that Regina is planning on a ritual on the waters running through the old mines."

"Dwarf mines." Grumpy grumbled, but no one noticed the surly speaker's remark.

"Now we need to get there and stop her. Ruby and Hopper only stole that USB an hour ago meaning Regina will either not know yet or will be scrambling to get everything in order." The blonde's hand curled over the cold hilt of her gun direly as a ghost of a smile stole upon her hard features. "So what do you say we give 'her majesty' a little surprise when she tries to get down in the mine?"

The suggestion was met with instant approval by all in a thunderous roar as dwarfs, fairies, humans, and other misbegotten creatures of the old realms brandished their weapons of steel or claw and filtered out to awaiting cars that would take them to the dwarf mines.

"Uh Belle." Jefferson hailed quietly as most of the rebels tromped their way down to the streets below.

The russet haired beauty paused and turned to face the handsome haberdasher who'd been her partner in espionage in finding out of Regina's biggest secrets.

While Emma couldn't dare walk past the street of the mayors office, Belle, being Mr. Gold's love and Jefferson being seen as chaotic to all but his own devices were brusquely allowed anywhere in the town without much scrutiny from either force.

No one wanted to tangle with a crazy man who'd in fact once lost his head, and the lady fair of Rumpelstiltskin, of course.

A small commending smile stole upon his face as he made a motion to the door. "Emma was right you know. If it wasn't for you we'd have never had the opportunity to find this plot out and get a good punch in this fight."

"Thanks, Jefferson." There was a moment of awkward silence between the beauty and the hatter as they scuffed their boots and stared at the wooden floor boards bashfully like nervous teenagers.

As far as Belle could determine she hadn't led him on in any regard. She was grateful to him and they worked closely together, but she honestly assumed he knew her true love was Rumpelstiltskin and Rumpelstiltskin alone that owned her heart.

Jefferson was sweet and kind beneath the brooding dourness of his pale flesh, but there was nothing she found completely breath taking. He was a good father, and a smart well bred kind of man who knew what he wanted in life and was willing to do all in his power to gain such, but still her heart did not sing for him.

No, her one and only was the loathed and despised Dark One.

"Well…" Belle began with a small pittance of a laugh, jerking her thumb towards the dark stairwell. A muscle twitched in her jaw as though she had tried to smile, but failed.

She tramped down the cold stair rather quickly leaving a strange Jefferson with a misty faraway look glazed in his tactile gray orbs.

How had a filthy animal like Rumpelstiltskin ever gotten the affection of one so utterly lovely, he pondered whimsically? Grace adored Belle, and he was pleased to find that 28 years holed up in a cement five by five cell, more like a coffin than anything else, had not dampened her mind or dulled her wit in any regard.

"I must be utterly insane to start failing in love with the Dark One's girl." He murmured quietly to himself; rubbing a hand across his weary face.

After a moment the hatter broke down into hysterical laughter at the well worded observation.

~8~8~

Mr. Gold had been in a rather pleasant mood since he had learned the knowledge that he could be with his Belle.

Even the irksome remembrance of Ursula's inquiry was overshadowed by the glorious fact that he and she could be bound by flesh and heat and love, entwined beneath his silken jade sheet and thick blankets.

The wondrous thought alone had him tugging at his shirt collar for air.

This was the ticket; he assured himself proudly as he poured water into the silver scrying bowl Miss Swann had once peered into for a hint of a possible future. This was how he could keep his Belle from straying into the arms of another for things that he could not provide.

Purple tinted his dexterous digits as he flourished his lavender and ebony hued hand over the shimmering surface of the clear sloshing liquid.

The magical cistern had more uses than merely a seers orb to pull back the veil of time. Once, back in the confines of the Dark Castle, he had used it to spy upon Belle while he had been in his apothecary concocting elixirs and tonics as she labored below.

Privacy had never been one of his strongest attributes, but he had always been respectful of her space save for when his curiosity and suspicion took him thrall.

Now, however, he felt a burning need to see her again. He itched to gaze upon her beautiful features once more as though she was a drug that kept him on delirious high in which he never wanted to come down.

The waters rippled and sparkled with magic turning into an opaque hue of blue letting the image play into a crystalline view of the most beautiful woman in all of Storybrooke.

A split second in time passed making the waters look dulled and murky, before clearing fully to show what he most desired. And there was Belle, alone with Jefferson.

For a moment he was too stunned to register the sight of his lovely beauty standing there bashful with the normally melancholic haberdasher.

With a flick of his hand the Dark One stilled the image nearly like a picture, not having the courage to look upon anymore in case something were to happen between them. He didn't think his heart could take it if he witnessed his lovely Belle share something tender with the crazy moron.

The young man was obviously smitten. In all his long centuries, Rumpelstiltskin knew how to weed out a love struck fool; had he not been one himself once upon a time when he'd first denied his feelings for the gorgeous beauty?

He witnessed the growing flush gathering upon the hatter's cheeks, the nervousness that enshrouded them, and the first droplets of sweat pricking at his brows all told the Dark One the signs of Jefferson's blooming endearment to Belle.

And as for Belle, could she have felt the same…?

"A picture's worth a thousand words is it not?" A cunningly despised voice inquired slyly.

Rumpel could almost hear the smile in the pretentious harpy's words as her dark magic's spiraled in front of his vision. Tendrils of onyx magic wisped from the floor until the fog, fetid substance began to transform into the stately figure of a sultry, devious woman.

She seemed to meld flawlessly with the darkness of his dim shop mingled against her midnight black suit. Her glossed black painted lips that extenuated her pallid smooth features grinned coolly at Rumpelstiltskin.

A sigh breathed from the Dark One's lips as his face took on thin lines of anger traced with flaring annoyance like warming embers of the fire of his wrath. "Does having magic back now negate the politeness of knocking, majesty?"

Regina chuckled demurely as she strutted like some flouncing peacock towards the counter and the scrying pool. "Interrupting some thing am I?" She inquired mockingly to irk him.

The incorrigible harpy leaned her elbows upon the glass top of the display case, tilting her head down to so rudely look into what was none of her business.

Anger riled in the businessman as he clenched his jaw in a vice to hold back his pernicious fury. The witch knew for whatever his reasoning he wouldn't or couldn't get rid of her yet, meaning the only murder he could throw at her was tacked upon an icy glare.

Darkness whispered for him to not kill her, but use magic perhaps to transport her to the icy waters lapping at the Storybrooke shores, but then again Regina would not poke her pompous little head around for mere drivel unless of course she was gloating.

A 'tsking' sound fell from the vile monarchs lips as she shook his head in mock sorrow. "Ah love, have you lost it already?" Regina taunted cruelly in a whimsical chuckle.

"Careful, Regina." Rum warned in a feral growl for her to tread tenderly. Flecks of lilac magic speckled in his eyes angrily. Though he knew of her importance to his cause, even he had limits to his patience before the beast broke free of its confines.

She shrugged nonchalantly, uncaring of death only a step away. "I came here to ask if you wanted to watch the fun, but I see you're busy." Before he could inquire upon her meaning she pressed on unabashed. "Poor Rumpelstiltskin master of everything save love."

"And what makes you think I do not have her love any longer?" He snapped, though there was strain in his rough timbre which he couldn't mask.

A part of him knew only poison could be mixed with asking Regina anything, and yet he felt her words rang true with Belle. What if he was loosing her love and how could he regain it?

Laughter, cold and harsh, echoed sonorously about the shop as Regina took enjoyment in his pain and panic. "Men, so foolish in the arts of love. Women see the inside and out of a man, Rumpel dear, and you I am afraid have lost anything that might have attracted her before."

"What do you mean?" Rum queried tremulously; his voice hollow and throat dry as though a revelation had come upon him by the harbinger of death.

Regina snorted. "Your little slave girl fell in love with someone she though was a good man behind all his bluster and fangs and gaudy jesters garb. Given how she's been learning so much of your deviances here, well she's seeing the beast is actually inside the man." She grinned maliciously as he voice lowered. "Perhaps she's having second thoughts that her first assumption of you was right."

_And then you did this…_Belle's words of only a few shot days prior rang back in a panicked clangor through his mind.

His entire body felt weighted down by dread as he absorbed Regina's cruel, yet perhaps all too true, words. After 28 years, maybe Belle was feeling her love was misplaced. Perhaps she was realizing she truly had given her tenderness, her heart, her soul to a snarling beast.

"And besides all that." The arrogant harpy yawned as though ripping out Rumpelstiltskin's heart was tediously boring. "People change. Let's remember our friend Jefferson was her rescuer. What you couldn't do in 28 plus years, he did with the greatest of ease. Admit it, Rumpel; that has to play some affect. Her 'true love' didn't come to her aid, and yet this handsome, caring _man, _not monster_, _did."

Regina had a point, and worst of all Rumpelstiltskin knew it. Jefferson had been her knight in shining armor to carry her from the witch's prison. He had been the one to bring her back to a life that had forgotten her and though the beauty dead for eons.

It was Jefferson Belle owed her freedom and to Rumpel owed her captivity and slavery.

What was catching her from a ladder compared to saving her from tortuous years of lonely solitude? Once again he found himself, insufficient, unworthy, not good enough for her though he tried his best.

"She…she loves me." The Dark One stammered hollowly simply to have something to grab on to as his world seemed to crumble about him at the startling realizations. How could he have been so blind!

"I never said she didn't." Regina countered easily. Picking at a bit of dirt beneath her painted nails the sorceress added. "But that doesn't mean she can't grow to love another, and with as much time as she's been spending with the hatter I am thinking the scales are starting to weigh in his favor."

Flicking the spec of dirt away, the conniving witch turned her head back to the shimmering pool. "They are such a lovely young couple." The ever arrogant sorceress gave a small chuckle as she dipped one finger into the water making the image distort and ripple briefly. "Jefferson and Belle; they even matching scars around their necks. The entire town thinks they'd be a good match. A mother for little Grace, a son in law her father wouldn't be neither ashamed nor petrified of…" Pausing, the enchantress quickly plucked a graying hair from Rum's temple. A small chuckle flew from her lips as she twirled the grayed strand between her fingers. "He's closer to her age, and so on and so forth."

She huffed as though an odd thought struck her suddenly. "The Dark One I used to know would never let this occur to what he owned. Tell me, Rumpel, what does one do when they see some one about to steal their most coveted property?"

Mr. Gold stared daggers at the vile monarch, his fingers curled tightly about his cane to keep his ever rising anger suppressed. "Your point, your majesty?" He ground out through grit teeth.

Leaning forward, another smile slithered cunningly upon her pallid face. "You should take her before Jefferson has a chance to dig any deeper." Regina whispered temptingly in his ear. "Rumpelstiltskin has never had any qualms taking what he wanted before; something he already owns at that."

"And how do I know he won't come for her?" Rum broached, though his voice and thoughts seemed faraway while his mind whirled. Perhaps there was credence to Regina's words, to keep Belle all his own for eternity.

At that Regina gave another scathing laugh. It had been agonizingly simple to lure Emma and her bandits into a cunningly set trap! Desperation to fight back fueled them more than their pride would admit. They desired to fight back, and with only a few easy steps and one glorious spell, the preening harpy had maneuvered them to her bidding as a farmer lures a stupid plough beast with a carrot.

With the knowledge of what they were about to walk into was almost laughable. "The trap Emma and her compatriots are about to walk into will make that extremely difficult." She sighed pleasantly, looking past the Dark One as though seeing through the walls.

"Those idiots, all of them went down to the dwarf mines at once. I hope they'll like their little surprise. They'll be out there on the outskirts of town, living in holes like ants or the murderous brigands they are as they try to fight me. I don't see how to stop a romance from forming between the pair. Jefferson and your precious little slave girl share a common goal. They fight side by side; comrades in arms. They'll grow closer as the days get colder and who knows, there are pleasant ways to get warm…"

She smiled a poisonous grin as the Dark One drew his conclusion. She had come by to gloat, and at the moment, even Rum had to admit it was indeed a reason to preen at her cunning.

"So Rumpel." She chuckled a bit as she sashayed demurely towards the door to his dimly lit shop. "Just what are you going to do?"

~8~8~

They had found nothing! Emma fumed furiously at that fact as the rebels marched embarrassedly back to the town proper. The lake that was supposed to bring back what was once lost did connect to the well, but its waters seemed to be all but useless according to the nuns turned fairies!

Whether the craven of a Dark One had used up all the supposed magic, or Regina had played a hand in negating the effect was unknown. The only real known was that the defenders were dirty, exhausted, and demoralized.

The moon was only a pale slice nestled in the dark firmament as the dispirited and weary trekked and drove back with their heads held down and shoulders slumped. Had Regina only put something there to taunt them? But then again why go through so much trouble to stash it away?

_Crunch _

The world turned from black to stars sparkling in Emma's vision as she collided with something that felt akin to a brick wall. For a moment, she thought she had stupidly run into a tree. Yeah, what a grand leader she was, Emma cursed dourly in her head as she pried open her eyes.

Nothing met her gaze. Air was the only thing that stood before. No tree or bush or wall, just the wide open space of the road.

To her right another 'crunching' noise echoed about, this time Grumpy and one of his fellow dwarves. The grouchy dwarf cursed and rubbed his sore nose, his blood shot eyes gazing about for whoever had punched him. A car tried to move through and the bumper dented as though it had run into a building or another vehicle.

"What in the world?" Belle asked befuddled as she intrepidly moved out a hand to see the trouble.

Others were approaching the air each trying to break through what should have been only clear space.

The bright beauty gasped in shock as her hands pressed against something invisible that felt hard as diamond.

Nova, one of the fairies raced up, her head darting about frantically as she inspected the clear air. Picking up a pebble she threw it at the empty space of the cool October night, only to have it hit something and fall away. "She didn't…" The once fairy whispered in awe.

"Did what, Nova?" Grumpy asked groggily from the unexpected blow.

"She's kicked us out of the town proper." Emma concluded grimly before Nova could relate the findings. The flaxen haired curse breaker looked forward then turned her head back to the mines and the fringe of Storybrooke. "She's pinned us between this wall and the outskirts of town…"


	11. Reclaimed

"Well Miss Swann isn't this a cozy little accommodation your people have erected." Mr. Gold observed with a sagacious touch of humor as he entered the, for all intensive purposes, campsite of the tricked rebellion.

The fiend tugged his body length black coat about him to ward off the chill in the creamy leaden ash colored morning. However, since his magic had been bestowed upon him once more the gesture was more reflexive instinct that anything else.

He could still recall a time in the drafty corridors of the Dark Castle when he had been about to depart on mornings such as this to strike a few bargains with the desperate and the soulless. Belle, ever the fastidious and dutiful slave, had always had one of his tattered cloaks readying and waiting no matter the most disagreeable hour he began his wandering about the realms; insisting he take it along to not catch a chill.

A smile soft twitched upon his face simply at the thought of those times alone unbeknownst that they were tended the oddly laid seeds of blossoming love. Those precious few moments had been some of the best where just for some tenuous minuets in time he could see her caring fully pronounced and she his gratefulness.

The thought tempted him to stop and sigh and stare into space like a love-struck peasant boy, but there were other matters to attend to currently.

Light was just bringing to trickle through the sodden gray firmament of early sun-up, bringing sashes of vibrant plum and mulled, dusky crimson cajoling about the atmosphere.

People huddled close together in any scrap of tarp or clothing they could find in the bitterly cold October morn. Lips of nearly everyone had taken a pearly blue tint and the noise of chattering teeth was almost audible in the gray light of day.

A few tire's had been sacrificially pulled from a couple of vehicles to make a blazing bonfire in attempts for warmth. Dark, choking smoke billowed in ebony ribbons of acrid clouds from the reeking melting mess, and yet still the deceived fighters leaned in so close more than one persons hair and sparse clothing had been singed.

Crisp, alabaster frost crunched under foot. The prickles of the chilled dew layered thickly upon the dried leaves and brown grass as testament of the cold fall as though winter was just allowing a minor taste of its puissant power in the Maine October morn.

Having once been a peasant who could scarcely afforded food in the winter for he and his boy, Rum felt a tinge of pity for the fooled rebels now condemned to a harsh autumn and perhaps winter living in the mines and using the forest for wood and other supplies.

Another part of him could only ponder what his Belle was doing to stay warm through the chilled night and the frosted sunrise. Would the temptation of bunking with the hatter for warmth and perhaps more arise?

He loathed to think of the idea of them bundled up together on the icy fronds of frost blanketed upon the forest floor or in the backseat of one of the cars sharing a little more than body heat for survival.

Regina's poisonous words skewered deeper into his heart like a dagger wrenching and twisting in his chest, but the ever calm and controlled Dark One, neatly tucked the dispiriting thoughts away for later as Emma managed to rise stiffly from the corner of the odorously horrid smelling pile of melting tire rubber and wet wood.

If Mr. Gold hadn't known better he'd have guessed her bones hand been conjured into ice by how frigidly she moved and shuffled and so violently trembled.

The fire in her eyes, however, was more than enough to sway him from that ridiculous notion. She was probably shivering more in rage than anything the cold could coil about her with its icy claws.

A grisly grim frown marbled dourly upon the former sheriff lips as she wrapped her arms closer in her crimson leather jacket for warmth. "Not a really good time to be cracking jokes." She chattered through trembling teeth and vaporous puffs of milky breath steaming from her mouth.

"Indeed." He admitted dryly, though the slight smirk that lined his coarse features hadn't left his lips. Placing both hand upon his gold handled cane the businessman allowed a slight chuckle to pass his lips. "However I must point out now is an excellent time to start doing business, don't you think Miss Swann?"

Emma gaped as though she hadn't understood his words. "Business?" She echoed in disbelief. "We're freezing out here, left away from our homes and families and you want to open up shop and set up business when you could just as easily dismiss this invisible barrier so we could get through!"

Her voice echoed about the towering pines, starling a few birds form their lofty perches, and yet the Dark One smiled on undeterred by her flaring anger lashing at him.

"Please Miss Swann, you know me well enough by now. To do that would be to decisively side with you against Regina." The magical fiend chided like he was scolding a disagreeable child.

How could they all keep forgetting he was on _his _side. Not hers and definitely not that preening harpy Regina's.

"And what's so wrong with that!" The blonde protested, her cheeks turning a ruddy hue against the frigid dawn. "Your girlfriend is already on the bandwagon, how about for once in your life you stop playing the coward and do something to actually help!"

His warm chestnut orbs took on a decidedly dangerous glint that Emma steadfastly held when all others save his Belle would have withered and whimpered piteously for their miserable little lives.

Only those who had a rather painful death wish or were brazenly and stupidly brave ever talked to him in such a manner in this world or the last.

He managed to control his temper, though to say he didn't want to use his powers to put the snapping sheriff in her place would have been an extraordinary lie. "You perceive to have the foolish notion that my agenda is your own. You continue to believe that I actually care who wins, which in all actuality I don't until my plans are fulfilled."

Just as quick as the flash of fury darted through his vision it disappeared, leaving him his old, loathsome easy smiling self. "Now, Miss Swann what can I help you with today, hmm?"

She could have asked for fire, heaters, blankets, food, perhaps even more clothes, but her pride was colder than the iciest morning a Maine autumn could beat upon the earth. "Nothing." She dead panned her glare challenging and murderous.

Oh she would break, he knew rather simply, once desperation had grasped her in its cold unyielding talons. When people started to grumble about food and the cold and damp of the mines, then her tongue would begrudgingly lose its sharp serpents bite.

Until then he would want and shake his head in pity at her idiocy. "We'll see about that in the coming days now; wont we?" He winked jovially.

The gesture was nearly enough to make the sheriff give him a right to the jaw, but she resisted the urge with a clenched fist and a steady breath.

"If that's all…" Emma growled lowly, longing for the ever fortuitous pawn broker to be gone as soon as magically possible.

Rumpel chuckled again. "Actually no, I have come for something far more important than the likes of you or anyone else in this pitiful little group." He replied nonchalantly before asking casually. "Where's Belle…?"

~8~8~

With Jefferson! Rum replayed the two agonizing words in his mind akin to a whip lashing at his brain as he strode unmolested through the make do camp.

Of course he should have seen that! He should have known that foolish haberdasher would use the time to get close to his Belle, his love, his property!

An unquenchable fire blazed in his eyes like nothing else had. People who were wandering about to get feeling back in their stiff legs scrambled frantically out the way of his pernicious wrath. Anger crackled about him like lightening in a storms dark cloud. Each step seemed to melt the prickles of frost sprinkled liberally upon the deadened earth.

His direction was akin to an arrow zooming towards it target. A target he feared he may have lost.

Oh, but that was all to change, for soon it would be just as it used to.

"There has to be something else we can burn." Belle grunted in remark to her foraging friend the hatter as she yanked at another piece of seat cushion from one of the pickup trucks.

Chilled sweat drizzled down her brow and temple as they labored for more things to throw upon the blaze to keep people warm. Breath billowed from their mouths in puffy wisps in testament to their labors. At least with their efforts they were keeping body heat, unlike those dipping perilously close to the bubbling tires.

Jefferson huffed in a sound of amusement that was not quite a laugh but came close. "Well, unless you want to simply drive the entire car into that foul miasma of rubber and weeds, please be my guest!"

Belle giggled breathlessly at his quip, preparing to take her armful of pyretic goods to the roaring, stench wafting blaze when she bumped directly into the Dark One as she turned about.

The goods tumbled from her hand in surprise as she stared at her love suddenly materialized before her like mist had coagulated and hardened into his likeness.

How long had he been there watching she contemplated before wariness over took her thoughts.

His face was dark and grim with lines of panic mingled with angst gouged about his coarse features just as it had been that terrible night he had spurned her love so readily offered near his spinning wheel.

Had it not been for the present time and place she could easily remember such a fateful night. The thought made a shiver slither up her spine, but she stoically suppressed the feeling.

She offered a paltry smile but the gesture fell quicker than it came. "Oh Rum, when did you get here?"

He responded with nothing more of a faint upturn of the lips, then flicked his gaze to Jefferson, his whisky brown orbs hardening akin to diamonds. "I'd like a moment in private with Belle." He stated lowly.

His right hand rested gently upon her shoulder, but there was a feel to it that somehow told Belle if she tried to wriggle away the movement would avail her nothing in an attempt to slip from his gentle if not firm grip. In a way the touch felt almost…owning as it had been those long years ago when he'd gently wrapped his black talons about her waist and ferried her away from her home.

Nodding in unsure wariness the hatter turned to Belle then back to the Dark One. His gray eyes seemed to glint in some unannounced challenge. The look left no doubt he was ready and willing to be Belle's champion.

"Alright. Just give me a yell if you need anything, Belle." He added on before padding back slowly to the fire with his laden goods.

If she needed to be rescued again, he added determinedly in his somber love struck thoughts.

Once the crazed haberdasher was far enough away for Rum's liking, the grimace faded to a warm smile that melted the tension knotted inside the beauty. A part of her mind still noted she found it amazing how even his smile could banish the anxiousness she felt, his touch could shoo away wariness, and his kisses made her believe she could take on the entire world alone.

"Long night?" He asked tenderly as he traced his thumb across her face to remove a smear of oily char streaking along her cheek.

A sigh of wariness fell from her lips. "You have no idea. Regina is cunning I'll give her that. Winter's coming and she trapped us here like bugs in a box; reducing us to scrounging vagabonds. A few have already deserted and sworn fealty to Regina for warmth and comfort once more."

Rum nodded somberly in an all too real understanding. He knew explicitly what running for comfort was like. Had he not done so once upon the battlefield?

"Well, you look like you've been put through hell. Why don't we go back into town, get you a bath and a decent meal." The Dark One offered kindly.

Belle brightened at the mention of a hot breakfast and what she assumed was him finally coming around to defeat the vile monarch once and for all. "You dispelled the barrier?"

Rum tried to stop himself from flinching at the inquiry, but Belle ever perceptive caught it instantly.

Her brow knit quizzically as her eyes narrowed into twin slits of suspicion. "You did banish the barrier, didn't you?"

"Belle." He began patronizingly, taking both her hands into his. "Why do you desire to fight with this…?" He made a flitting gesture to the main encampment. "Rabble. They are unprepared, unfit, and out manned to fully stop Regina. They are literally living in the woods like animals! I have my magic, and we are together. I can take care of you now there is no need for any of this. Please, forget about this fools fight and come home with me." He pleaded desperately.

Couldn't she see he was trying to save them from anything putting a wedge a twixt their relationship? Did she even want to see?

The russet haired beauty jerked her hands away from his own as though poison was drenched upon his palms. She blinked at him aghast for even suggesting desertion. "Rum, they are my friends in need. I have sworn myself to fight Regina for all the terror and wrongs she has wrought, and you would simply have me fly away with you because she can do nothing to me under the watchful eye of your protection?"

"It's not your fight." He argued vehemently in a hissed whisper. "That harpy will pay, but you have no need to take on this battle."

"This is my fight as much as it is Snow's, James's, Emma's and every one else's! I want to see this through, for myself, for closure."

"You cannot possibly desire to skulk in old mines all winter simply trying to work with whatever can be scrounged while fighting a loosing battle."

"I can and I will to see her brought to justice and you will never make me change my mind otherwise!"

With that, the beauty turned from her love angrily. Sorrow clenched her heart at their fight, but she wasn't backing down. He wanted to be with her as much as she did he, but he simply didn't understand what Regina had put her through! Those long nights of torture, the dreams, the laughing, the conjuration of making her Rum appear then flit away as smoke upon the freezing air.

The hot sting of tears dabbed and burned at her eyes, but she fought them back with a stoic grace as she began striding away from her Rum. Maybe one day he would understand.

Behind her the Dark One stood rigid. Anger like lava streamed through his veins as she turned his back on him; in a way taking her loyalties and throwing them with Emma's lot instead of where they belonged with him and him alone.

Since she had forfeited her loyalty to the rebellion had she already cast her love with Jefferson so fully and whole heartedly?

"Then you leave me no choice." He growled quietly like a rabid wolf stalking in on his prey. He hadn't desired to take this action, but she left his hands tied. "Belle as your lord and master I command you to heed me."

The dark, amber haired beauty paused her trek as though he had delivered a blow to the back of her skull. Master? The word reverberated through her skull.

Spinning on her heel to face him, her face glowed with indignant heated, crimson fury. "How dare you try to relegate me to a slave once-" She paused as she felt her legs not stopping walking back towards him.

It abruptly dawned on her that she hadn't actually turned herself around, something was controlling her form. No matter how much she fought the sudden surprise her muscles and body worked of its own accord driving her back to Rumpelstiltskin.

She tried to fight the force dictating her body, but seemed as useless as getting through the barrier Regina had set up the night before.

"Let me remind you that our contract is still honored in this world." The Dark One explained crisply, seeing the terror and confusion mingled in her azure eyes.

Belle's mind whirled at the knowledge he so callously laid upon her. How could it be when he had given her freedom not once but on two separate occasions? "That isn't…you gave me freedom!" She stammered in protest; still attempting to fight the effects of the magic to no avail.

"And when was this?" He queried as he cocked his head slightly to the left. "I said nothing about freedom the first time I sent you to fetch me straw. You were little more than a runaway slave I didn't bother to track down. And the second time, well I sent you away from the Dark Castle; I did not bestow you any form of emancipation. My exact words were 'I don't want you anymore'. Giving you your freedom never, ever crossed my lips and you and I both know that; so does the magic that bound the spell to drive the ogres from your father's realm. As far as the magic's is concerned, hammered out and as specified in our bargain, you still belong to me mind, body, and soul."

Grabbing the stunned beauty's arms carefully so that he didn't hurt her, the fiend pulled the brown haired woman close as the lilac magic swirled and coiled about them like a constricted serpents scales.

"I've put up with enough of this chivalric freedom. I'm done simply bearing the torment of you brushing me away. Now, we are going home, and if I have to keep you as a prisoner, a slave, another piece of property, I shall." He stated in a no-nonsense whisper as they began to disappear from the outskirts of the encampment.

As the last of the magic ensorcelled them a few of the rebels were beginning to run in their direction; looking confused or just starting to come to the realization of what Rumpelstiltskin was there for. Jefferson trotted in the lead yelling something unintelligible and waving a fist, but the magic seemed to deafen her slightly.

Belle could feel her limbs heeding her command once more as the day around her began to grow into a light purple hue. She moved her fingers and arms of her own accord, but by then it was too late and all that was left of the beauty and the beast were a few wisps of lavender magic drifting upon the cold autumn air.


	12. A Hardened Heart

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

**~8~8~**

_Fools, the lot of them! _Regina's bright crimson lips inched upward ever so slightly in a small victorious smirk at the thought as she took another nip of apple brandy. The stinging brew sloshed against the back of her throat, nearly conjuring tears to her glassy teal eyes, but she blinked them back resolutely. There was no room for tears at present, she assured herself proudly, only a sheer aura of conquering that permeated off her as a rank stench did a sun burnt corpse.

Glass and ice clinked softly as the Madame Mayor stalked quietly to the towering double French window in her office. The twin translucent portals were the tallest windows in the entire town save for the clock glass in the old tower.

From atop the palace of her study in the town hall, she could survey her realm, her kingdom, her servants, and all that skittered and toiled beneath her uncompromising, ubiquitously, merciless gaze.

Suffice to say there was certain, tingling of complete and dominate power that coursed rampantly through her sensuous form every time she stared out to her own little world spread in its neat, trim shops and homes filled to bursting with misery before her.

Even from her stately perch high in her city hall castle, the evil sorceress could see a thick ribbon of greasy black smoke curling into the fog wreathed boughs of trees before wafting ever upward to the cloudless firmament from the afar forest encompassing the entire town.

The window pane minutely reflected her preening, superior grin as she took another slow drawn draught of the mulled alcohol to savor the harsh tang dancing upon her tongue enjoyably; just as she did her stunning triumph.

Who dared think they would face her cunning, forged in the scorching fires of hatred and revenge. Tempered upon the anvil of bitterness and molded into shape by the hammer of heartbrokenness. Her conniving had been cooled in the bile of anger, and finally crafted into a weapon of sheer maliciousness that surpassed even that of the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin.

"Tell me, did that hazardous imp come fetch his little slave girl?" Regina asked aloud softly. A hint of amusement laced her quiet timbre as her thoughts led her back to the secret meeting of betrayal at hand.

"Yes." A nondescript voice in the shadow replied solemnly as though saddened by the fact.

A harsh bark of a laugh erupted from the sadistic monarch's lips in the sheer jubilation of knowing that the fiend Rumpelstiltskin had stumbled into her cleverly laid trap. For one who proudly boasted and unabashedly flaunted himself to be the most powerful creature alive, he most certainly couldn't see past his nose where the object of his desire was so flagrantly concerned.

Once her raucous, crow like, laughter pattered off to a small sadistic chuckle the cruel witch sighed contentedly and nodded faintly in pleasure. "Good, now that that's out of the way I can truly begin to hack Miss Swann's defiance to bloody pieces."

To long, much to long, had she sat quietly with her fellow schemers and notorious backstabbers, biding her time like a stalking predator tracking a wounded doe waiting for the right moment to pounce with claws flashing and fangs bared.

"Uh…with all due respect, your majesty, what did that have to do with Belle and Mr. Gold?" The shaded figure broached confusedly. One could here the quizzical tone in its roughened voice.

"It had everything to do with it, moron!" Regina sighed impatiently and pinched the bridge of her aquiline nose in a worthy attempt to fight to keep her good mood in the face of the idiotic questionnaire.

"With Belle associated personally with that little band, Mr. Gold would have taken special precautions with them. None of my true plans would have ever come to fruition with that toad fleshed imp keeping a close eye." She explained like she would to a young, ignorant child.

The figure enshrouded by the shades of black paused, its mind working in attempts to understand the devious royal. "But wasn't the blockade one of your big plans?" It queried warily.

If this didn't even skim the surface of what Regina termed as 'big plans' then how deep into the dastardly bowels of revenge did her conniving and scheming go?

The dreaded sorceress scoffed at the ridiculous notion; almost jovial as though he had asked something amusing. "The barrier? The wall will be nothing more than a minor inconvenience in the long run of things." She admitted with a careless heave of her shoulders. "The fairies will soon figure out a way to break a hole through and send in a few people at a time."

Abruptly another crimson smile bloomed upon her features in another inward pat on the back for her clever accomplishment. "You see, the barrier wasn't designed to hold Emma and her fellow rabble. No, this was a trap, albeit an elaborate and intensively intricate one for Mr. Gold. If what you report is truth, he fell for it and hasn't even realized it. With Belle out of the line of fire, he won't care either way now whom holds the upper hand."

"So, you only did all of this to get Mr. Gold out of the way?" The dark form dared ask warily. It stoutly feared the painful gout of her wrath for broaching too many questions simply for clarification.

Regina chuckled in a commending way to him for finally drawing the conclusion. "Now you're catching on. But, I haven't gotten him out of the way per se; nothing can. I simply redirected the object of his love and therefore his focus; leaving me free to bring my full wrath down on Emma and her rebellious associates without so much as a whimper from the hideous beast."

"And you really think he's going to stay out of it for the most part?" The dark form inquired, its voice brimmed with hope and promise towards the revelation.

Nothing good ever came out of anything wherever the Dark One dabbled. He was infamous for throwing wrenches in well crafted plans and sowing corrupted seed of turmoil across the land simply for his gain and enjoyment.

Regina couldn't suppress another blood red smirk painted upon her full lips. "I know it." Abruptly she turned her head slightly to the side where the voice hailed. "You've done well brining me this information, I shall remember this when I reward you for your service to me. Now go back to Emma's encampment and keep your eyes and ears open."

The figure didn't deem to reply with words, but merely offered a deep, respectful bow and silently stole out like a master thief back towards his 'fellow' rebels.

Once the figure had departed the vicious monarch turned her attention fully back to the towering windows. This time, however, her focus resting on the side to the road leading to the home of Mr. Gold.

Draining the last bit of brew from her glass, the witch shook her head in mock pity as she stifled back a chortle. "Oh Rumpel, you stupid, stupid fool."

She would deal with him and his little slave girl al in good time.

~8~8~

Dark coils of lavender mist sprinkled up from a dark red carpet like flakes of oddly tinted snow spiraling upward in the dust and antique cluttered living room of Mr. Gold's lavish home.

The plum hued magic briefly illuminated the dimly lit room before falling back to shadow as two figures appeared inside the ever lonely dwelling. As the tendrils of mist drifted away from their respective forms, Rum stoically prepared himself to receive blows of fury to rain down upon him.

The fiend readily expected the beauty's delicate fists to beat upon his expensively tailored suit in righteous anger and insult for doing what he had just done. He foresaw vile curses, and frantically shrieking threats or piteous begging and pleading and crying to pierce the cool air of the domicile like horns of battle.

But that didn't matter now, he hastily reminded himself, she could beg and scream and bemoan her fate all she desired. She could curse and spit and punch, until her throat was raw and sore and still it would avail her naught.

What mattered was that he had her, finally, wholly since she had appeared in his shop like someone raised from the dead those few months ago, and nothing not even the icy claws of fate, would wrench her away from him once more.

He stiffened instinctively, his muscles taut, and face grimly determined to feel the coming blows.

Instead, and much to his astonishment, no actions were assaulted upon his person. For a moment he simply had to wonder what fresh anger would scorch him and turn his emotions to char in the blazing inferno of her copious wrath.

Intense pain wallowed in the russet haired beauty's cobalt depths, yet tears did not brook down her pallid cheeks, and no curses spewed profanely from her lush pink lips. She was calm but angry; hurt but steady.

The look hit him harder than any blow ever could strike, for she looked at him as though he had betrayed her in some way.

A part of him wanted to argue over the simple look. How was it she looked at him as though he had betrayed her when she had been drifting away from him!

His lovely beauty, his prize that he had rightfully reclaimed from the grasp of Jefferson stood before him in a mire of melancholy that pulled her deeper and deeper with every passing moment.

No words she spoke, but how he wished she had mumbled anything to make him feel justified for his brutish actions in ferrying her away. Even a foul glance shot his way would have sufficed to assuage the guilt like bile welling within.

Belle merely tilted hr head down subserviently, and clasped her hand together in front of her as though waiting upon his command.

Had he cowed her with his flagrant show of ownership and possessiveness, he considered; startled by the lack of fervent rage bereft in his wonderful Belle? And yet he knew that a stupid pondering for his Belle was indefatigable, untamable intrepid in all her doings and just as wild and free as the wind itself.

"Belle…" The fiend began warily, his tone as pleading as it had been when he all but begged her to give up her fool's errand of seeing Regina taken down by Emma Swann and her compatriots. Mayhap now away from the scents of war and determination she would listen to reason.

The beauty stood there silent as the house they resided in, her lithe body radiating the emotions that her heart could not, would not, express. He had taken her, stolen her as though she were a household item and he a burglar with no regard for others.

Once in the Dark Castle he had admitted to her he never saw her as something he owned, or possessed like one of his many interesting trinkets. And truthfully she had never really felt as such before now.

But if that's the way he desired it then so be it. Not like she could stop him, the beauty thought sardonically.

Vehemently at first, the fiend attempted to pry the words saturated deep in her soul out. He reasoned and explained and recited and propositioned his actions; zealously trying to justify what he had done. Yes, he had spirited her away, but it was best for them to keep out of the intense struggle.

Finally after pouring his heart out, the Dark One stood breathless before her. His throat was dry and tongue thick with want of water after his one sided monologue.

After he felt as though he had ranted himself hoarse, still he could coax not a peep out of her. She stood there the very same, as though she had been a downcast statue of submission; silent and sorrowful.

Why would she not listen, why would she not see reason?

Shaking his faintly graying tresses in disgust, the magical beast led her to a guest room on the second floor. The only sound was the light creaking of the old wooden steps as they slowly scaled the stairs leading to the room she should have been in the very day he had discovered her alive and well.

She followed without a single utterance, completely obedient to his every word and action, dumb to any inquiry or brittle attempt at a quip he dared throw her way.

As they stopped in front of a thick, ash door the fiend stole a quick glance behind him, trying to gauge his loves reaction. At this point anything would have been a welcome other than the submissive staring at the ground.

Still she didn't look at him, but only at the wood patterns upon the floor in a timid subservient manner. It was as though she were a wary slave in the Dark Castle all over again before they had gotten to know one another.

A grumble, towards her demeanor rumbled like angry thunder from his lips as he slipped an antique bronze key into the lock and turned to open to her room. It was a room he had toiled day and night over for her liking. No expenses were bereft no luxury avoided in any area of her quarters.

Books of all types sat nestled in large mahogany shelves, light, checkered eggshell blue curtain bedecked the double windows, and the four poster bed looked fit for even the most extravagantly indulgent of nobles, and to top it all off a wardrobe that was full of clothes specified to her size.

The chamber would have been something she loved had she not been given it in this way. He himself couldn't help but think of it as a prisoner being hauled into a finery ridden, lavish cell.

His valiant last glimmer of hope for her liking it was gruesomely dashed upon cold rocks of rebuffing and silence as she stepped slowly inside to her prison. She gazed upon it the same way she had the first day he led her to the dungeons in the Dark Castle. It was a toxic mixture of despair and solemnity as she came to the rather harsh conclusion this was to be her fate forever.

There was no cold, filthy dungeon cell floor this time but still it was an incarceration no matter how plush and posh. She would have chains of lace now to clap upon her wrists, but chains just the same. She was a prisoner again; a prisoner who would want and be denied nothing save freedom.

The only different between this cell and the former was that she stepped into her new, lavish cage, instead of him shoving her inside.

How had they regressed so much, back to their first stages of love? Belle wondered mournfully as her indigo eyes traced the patterned of the expensive rug under her. He was taking her prisoner again, simply for what, fear, sinister machinations?

"Why won't you say something?" He had finally blurted unable to tolerate her somber quiet any longer. His fingers curled tightly about the bronze door knob in utter frustration.

To say that she utterly despised the room would have been preferable to more abominable silence! Couldn't she see he had done this for them? Taking her away had potentially saved their love!

She stared at him with the most haunted, angered, at a loss, look all concocted in one brew of emotion sparkling in her eyes. "What would you have me say, _master_?" She asked, though there was no denying the heavy emphasis she had put on that last part.

"Belle, you know I don't see you as a thing I own any longer." He replied appealingly; his accented timbre laced heavily with remorse mingled with determination. "You left me no choice back there."

"It wasn't your choice at all!" She countered in a snap. Her hands curled tightly into twin fist as she took a step towards him.

Blue flames guttered crazily in her eyes as testament of her wrath. The heat of her rage seemed utterly unfathomable akin to the fiery pits of Tartarus. "Perhaps the onus of all this falls on me, I suppose. Here I had assumed you had changed. Instead you chose to humor my silly desire for freedom, and then jerk my leash when you think I've had enough!"

He attempted to reason; his words tripping upon themselves as he stammered futilely. "No, Belle, it's not that. I want you to have your freedom, just not foraying with Emma and her lot."

She gave a tiny, mirthless huff of a laugh at his tremulous, assuaging words that fell flat and lifeless. Did he not understand what freedom was in and of itself?

"Rumpelstiltskin, maybe it's time you pulled out a dictionary and read up what the word 'freedom' means! If you decided what I can and cannot do then that is no freedom at all! We might as well be back in the Dark Castle living as master and slave once more." She roared, her arms flying up in excessive exasperation.

Anger and sadness entwined caustically upon her features as she slammed the door to her room in his face.

For a moment Rum stood there, his emotions in dire turmoil. No, she had to be wrong, this was best.

Laying his head upon the cool wood of the door, the fiend could only ponder had he done the right thing. He knew her anger would be a wildfire, but he could only hope and pray to whatever deity deemed to show clemency upon him, she would calm and perhaps see things his way.

Until then…

Slipping the key back out of his pocket the magical monster silently slid it into the lock, with only a faint click, to make certain the room was secure.

If Belle decided she desired to treat the place as her dungeon of ages past he would readily oblige her. Besides, how long could she keep the forges of anger heated?

~8~8~

"Stubborn woman." Growled Rum as he stomped down the stairs leading from the second floor of his massive homestead with a not even slightly touched meal of chicken and rice jolting dangerously in his grip.

A snarl of anger and disgust marred his face as he thundered into the sparse kitchen like hell's flame billowed and bickered behind his every step. The plate of food in his iron grip was still warm with little tendrils of steam rising from the meal. She hadn't touched a bite!

Mumbling a foul curse under his breath the Dark One furiously slammed the plate into the sink heedless of the ruin of such an expensive piece of dishware.

Hunks of ceramic whizzed dangerously though the air like a hoard of angered bees swarming about murderously to cut, but Rum paid it little notice whilst he slumped wearily into a chair.

His hands went up to rub his ever graying temples in attempts to bring back his full reign over the darkness festering and beating to be out and free and command control over him.

She refused to eat, speak of even come out of her room when he had allowed the door open in the mornings to give her full leave of the house!

Perhaps practically stealing Belle from her predicament in the rebel camp hadn't been his most thought out idea, he supposed grimly.

A sigh fell tiredly from his lips as he ran a callused hand through his dirty brown tresses. Yet it was so difficult to think and judge when he had seen the woman he loved turn her back on him. She had been ready to abandon him like everyone else in his life had. What choice had he but to lay claim to her once more; to wrap his talons about her and roar to the world she was his and his alone?

He had lost him temper; that was for certain, and allowed rage fuel his thoughts and actions. True, a part of him had already decided before even entering the camp she would be his, but it wasn't to have gone that way.

And now he was paying the price.

Pieces of cutlery and plates rattled precariously on the large kitchen table as the fiend slammed his fist down upon it in sheer frustration. Wrath tinged his chocolate brown depths in a fiery inferno.

If she didn't desire to do this the easy way, if she refused to open her eyes and see his side, there were other means.

A faint trickle of Darkness seeped from his control like sand in a tightly clenched fist. It spiraled in wisps of vile magic about his mind. Its soothing whispers coaxed and tempted him into action.

Had he forgotten he was the Dark One; that he could have whatever he desired? She did not tug at the strings of his heart and play him about as a master puppeteer did its puppets! He was the controller, the master, and she had no right to make him feel as he did!

~8~8~

The gray of day was just mildly seeping through the blue curtains of the beauty's room as the Dark One entered quietly upon shadows feet.

Belle's ears pricked slightly to the sound, but she remained prone upon her side under the heavy pinwheel stitched quilts layered upon the bed to combat the autumn chill that blanketed the halls at night.

Forcing her breathing to remain at a steady pace, the russet haired beauty feigned tumultuous slumber, hoping he would leave her be.

Days now he had come, with offerings of food and trays laden with the forgotten blue and white ceramic kettle they had used daily in the drafty halls of the Dark Castle. Days he had attempted to prod her into conversation, broaching with quietly asked questions or pleading for just a word. And days upon days she had rejected him, eating the very little accepting nothing but the very sparse of necessities.

"Get up." He dead panned harshly as he neared the bed; slightly startling his lovely captive.

An end of something, probably his cane, poked her roughly on the shoulder in order for her to rouse herself from her supposed repose.

In the few days being his prisoner once more, Rum hadn't acted like this, she noted instantly. Usually he toiled in trying to make a giggle surge from her throat or at least dredge up a brief phrase from her lips.

Disguising her surprise and curiosity at his caustic tone, the beauty rubbed her sapphire eyes as she slid to sit on the edge of the bed.

The Dark One was dressed crisply as always with a dapper dark suit and gold crescent moon cuff links. His satin tie was a dark burgundy that matched well with the ebony silken shirt beneath. He looked prepared for business, either of pawns or fortuitous deal making.

"I'm going to open up my shop again today." Rum stated commandingly. Putting both his hands on his golden cane hilt in his normal stance he dipped his head slightly to his captive. "You will accompany me."

Belle stared at him incredulously for a moment, her exquisite; sleep ridden features flashed with challenge. "And if I refuse?" She queried gently. Even though she didn't fear Rum by any stretch of the imagination, his blazing wrath was nothing to balk or scoff at.

He only answered by lifting a pair of cold silver cuffs with his index finger; letting them swing in front of her face ominously. "Come freely or go bound."

"Couldn't you simply demand me to come with you and your magic would force your will upon me?" She inquired stingingly, but more for genuine curiosity than anything to hurt.

Rum flinched laconically as the words hit their mark upon his heart. He both hated and loved she could coax something out of him no one else could.

Frowning lasciviously, the fiend nodded freely. "I shouldn't have used that upon you. Anger simmered in my mind. My only thought was to have you back. I won't use that again, you have my word."

The pain vanished from his face in a fraction of a heart beat as he grimaced towards his love. "Now what will it be. Will you come freely, or must we walk down Main Street with you in cuffs?"

For one hard, long moment in the eternal trek of time, Belle stared heatedly at the man who had long ago sold herself to for the sake of saving her people. Part of her tried to summon up hate or dredge utter loathing of him to the surface of her mind, and yet only anger and wrath brimmed in her eyes. She couldn't hate Rumpelstiltskin, no matter the reason.

Clenching her jaw in a vice, the beauty silently held out her slender wrists to her master.

A tight frown wrenched upon the fiends coarse features at the gesture. She would take the humiliation of being dragged through town in cuffs rather than walk side by side?

Taking her hands gently in his own, he tapered his thumbs slowly along her pulse point. The thumping of her heart lurched at the touch, but still the anger managed to hang on determinedly in her scorching cobalt gaze.

If she refused to relent, neither would he.

"So be it." Rumpelstiltskin snarled. If this was how she desired their life to be led, then he had absolutely no qualms with that!

Turing upon his heel to exit, the feind slight swerved his had back to her. "I'll give you half an hour to get ready and to change your mind." With that he stalked out, anger flaring brilliantly about him.

Belle stared at the exact spot where the feind had stood in her room. She could still feel the place where his fingers had roved over her galloping pulse as he had spoken his ultimatum. Why was this happening, why couldn't he see?

A cry of dire anguish tore wretchedly from the captive beauty's throat as she fell back face down upon the bed in a piteous heap. Quiet sobs escaped her throat, muffled by the quilts and pillows as she mourned the turmoil of it all, and what it felt like they were losing day by day.


	13. Understanding All

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! You guys are wonderfully awesome! Also, sorry for putting this up late, I was hustlin' because tests this week…ugh._

**~8~8~**

"I wish you'd stop acting as though I've committed some horrid crime, Belle." The Dark One growled in surly distemper.

Cold, calloused hands rubbed an oily cleaning rag against one of the tarnished brass candelabras that sat useless and forgotten in the stored hoards of antiquities crammed about helter-skelter in his forever dimly illuminated shop.

The stoic beauty sat rigidly upon the old bar stool behind the shop counter. Her head was slightly tilted down as her fingers toyed absently with the copper numbers that gave the abhorred pawn shop an old-time store kind of air.

She had thrown on a plain white tee that fittingly hugged her body overlaid with a thin red and black flannel button shirt that hung open to protect her from the faint chill in the Dark One's shop. A comfortable pair of jeans fitted across her lower half, and brown boots swung idly inches from the floor as she pumped her legs back and forth in some quiet rhythm of melancholy.

Here she was garbed in the simplest of clothes, and still the magical monster thought no other woman could look so utterly ravishing and flawless as his Belle. Some part of him readily believed his black heart, already clenching remorselessly at the lovely sight of her, couldn't take her beauty if he ever saw her bequeathed in the finest raiment that befitted her station as a noblewoman.

Her long tresses of soft russet curls were tied behind her with a blue strip of ribbon, which made her look so much like the Belle of old it caused the ancient fiends heart to ache in memoriam for those gone days.

His lips down turned sullenly at the thought and the nostalgia flooding his every pore with memories of the past. Had it truly been so long ago when they'd first ducked and dodged the feelings of love intrepidly sprouting in their hearts?

On the beauty's left wrist, one of the cold steel bracelets was curled tightly, but not uncomfortably while the other had been secured to the counter.

Had she asked or even simply hinted for release he would have unlocked her fetters before the words could finish fleeing her lips. Instead she remained so defiant, so stubborn so utterly audaciously Belle.

He had hoped his threat of walking her down Main Street to his antique littered shop, clapped in cold steel cuffs, would have persuaded her to change her mind and come freely; perhaps realizing his actions hadn't been to terrible.

He should have known better, he scolded himself savagely with a vile inward curse.

A dark grimace played up his rough face as he recalled her walking close by his side, her hands bound in front by the loose cuffs, and head held high and proud as any noble born could have possibly been.

The steel shackles hadn't been tight, but he had defiantly made them firm enough to present his point - she was his, and his alone; end of story.

Half a sardonic smirk bloomed upon his features. Oh, but that was never the end, was it?

He had listened to enough of her fantastic tales by the banked hearth in the library on cold winters nights to know legends of love never ended so ridiculously simple.

With a growl of abject frustration, the businessman threw the rag down and padded over determinedly to his Belle. Some times she could be the most infuriating woman he had ever dealt with!

Taking her jaw gently in his calloused grip, the fiend turned her head up so that she could look at him eye to eye. Glimmering cobalt interwove with his brown orbs as their stares battled for dominance in each glance and glare that wrestled between them.

"What's wrong with us?" He queried at length in a sorrowed whisper.

Why were they even fighting at all? What actions had prodded him to take such recourse that he did, and what dark hand goaded her to clutch her anger close and refuse to relent the scathing heat in favor of her normally cooled temperament as was usually her wont?

She only offered a timid half-hearted shrug, her cerulean depths mirroring the same questions that plagued the devious Rumpelstiltskin so miserably.

Where had their entwined hearts parted ways? They loved one another, yet it was so hard to admit with the noxious fumes of anger choking that endearment and shredding it asunder with its razor sharp talons.

Her soft pink lips parted just for a moment, filling the Dark One with a rousing shimmering hope that she would finally speak to him and tear down her indomitable walls of fury.

His heart caught inexorably tight in his throat as he waited breathlessly for even one syllable; one small crack in her icy demeanor to slip through and make everything alright again.

She paused just before the very first sound slid from her lips, as the bell above the shop door jangled in alert of a new presence striding into the pawn shop.

Mr. Gold bit his tongue in dark frustration at the impromptu intrusion. Stifling the urge to curse profusely at the utter fool, who had so stupidly waltzed in at the precise moment he thought he'd had melted some of the ice ensorcelled about her fair heart, the beast released his love as he attempted to subdue his vastly rising rage.

His eyes narrowed angrily as he jerked his head violently towards the entrance; ready to spew a few less than pleasant words at whomever had entered. If smoke could have funneled from his nostrils in anger, like that of a dragon they would have, but he forced his problems with Belle far back in his mind as the tenacious figure of Emma Swann appeared through the grime ridden annex.

"Ah Miss Swann." Mr. Gold announced through grit teeth as the blonde strode in a no nonsense manner towards the counter. Her grim face spoke that she was not in the mood for his jocular pleasantries in any fashion.

The sheriffs dark blue eyes glared at the fiend scathingly, her arms crossed and a determined grimace smeared across her scowling features. "We need to talk." She spat simply, her tone harder than solid diamond and equally as cutting.

Rum dipped his head faintly in gesture of mock respect. Proffering his hand to the back rooms, the fiend donned a thin forced grin or his normal cunning. "Of course Miss Swann. Care to step in the back?"

The grim curse breaker merely nodded as she stomped briskly through the small dim hall to the back workshop where Mr. Gold tinkered with a few of his antiques.

As she passed the counter, she offered the captive Belle a helpless shrug in acknowledgement of the beauty's plight. She knew, the waitress wasn't there by her own free will.

A sigh silently fell from Belle's lips as her shoulders slumped in encroaching acceptance to defeat as the pair vanished into the store rooms.

She felt pulled and drawn and twisted and tangled with no way to straighten out to what she used to know.

A part of her always missed her time back at the Dark Castle, now she felt lost and homesick, desperately wishing to get back to those time where things had appeared so much more simpler and clear.

"Belle." A voice hurriedly whispered to the beauty making her lose her trail of morose thought.

Her head snapped up so fast her vision whirled in dizziness to meet the handsome face of Jefferson inches away from her own.

A faint, relieved smile bloomed widely upon his paled features as his eyes scanned her intently for hurt or harm in the form of blood or bruises anywhere smeared upon her.

Words tried to bubble up, but only stammers of phrases spilled in confusion from her mouth. "Jefferson! Huh…why…how." Why was he even there! A part of her gut told her the answer, but she didn't want to believe it, much less acknowledge it.

"Getting into places that are secured and impossible to breach is sort of my thing." He explained in a hurried whisper, his tone filled with heavy amounts of relief that she was safe.

Jumping behind the counter the hatter produced a hooked picklock from one of his satin lined jacket pockets. "I'm here to rescue you from the clutches of that…that beast." He reveled with a fierce hiss as he knelt by the cuffs tiny key hole.

Delicately slipping the pick into the lock, the haberdasher's clever fingers slowly fiddled with the mechanisms inside. The light sound of steel and metal scraped in the slightest of noises, but still he flinched with every squeaking sound.

His ears were perked and alert for the all knowing click while also balancing listening out for the dulled tap of boots and a gold handled cane.

Fiery tension strained at every trembling nerve in his body with the knowledge of what he was undertaking. His heart thudded in his ears akin to a drum of war pounding relentlessly as he bent to his heroic task of saving the captured beauty.

After this surely she must be with him! He hoped as he spared a quick glance to the back door where the Dark One was only a few feet away chatting with Emma.

The crazed hatter was under no illusions of what would be his fate if the magical monster found him trying to free a damsel in distress; his love no less.

Stifling a shiver, Jefferson forced the thoughts of being transmuted into an ant or a roach away while his hands worked frantically at their refined task. One slip up could have him in the magical clutches of the merciless Dark One, who'd show no clemency to him if discovered.

A cry of joy nearly erupted from his lips as he heard the well known soft click of the lock being sprung. His trembling hands hastened furiously to unfasten the bracelets and ferry the beauty away when he felt a hand land on his shoulder turning his galloping blood to icy mud…

~8~8~

"Now Miss Swann what can I help you with today?" The Dark One asked curiously, his mouth twisted into an impish smirk as he landed in a worn, high backed armchair.

Emma eyed him with orbs copiously swathed with hate; her wrath just barely kept in control. The list of his deviances and foulness continued to grow by the day, Belle being at the top of the list currently for the sheriff.

"I hope you know you have no right to keep Belle or even stake whatever claim you think you have to her." She stated heatedly unable to keep the injustice of it all smothered down inside with out speaking. Here blue depths sparkled like forged steel. "This isn't an enchanted forest or looming castle; this is 21st century Maine. You can't keep anyone against their will because of some deal. It's wrong and against the law."

A small mirthless chuckle huffed quietly from the Dark One. "I'm sorry, Miss Swann, but a contract is a contract, and furthermore it's none of your business. I and Miss French established our bargain long ago, written for the blood of her people."

Leaning back in the chair, the fiend laced his fingers together as he gazed at the tenaciously grim sheriff. "Now, what's the reason you've come to see me, eh? What with Regina's lackeys on the prowl you can't have made the treacherous journey simply to waggle your finger in scolding and whine at me unavailingly to release Belle."

Lips curled back into a seething sneer, the blonde looked as though she was on the brink of tossing a few dark profanities at the calmly staring Gold. "I think we have a traitor." She admitted dourly; hating she had to relate such to the cunning Dark One.

"And what would draw you to that conclusion?" He taunted, feigning surprise as he tilted his head coquettishly to the side. If she was only coming to realize that now, then perhaps her stance against Regina was truly in vain.

Emma paced about the small space furiously, her mind whirling in a kaleidoscope of suspicion and guilt to mantle on those she assumed where potential traitors. "There's no way Regina could have known we'd be in the outskirts of town when she put that barrier up. Someone had to tip her off."

"And you want to know if I can weed them out." Rum concluded with a sagely nod.

"Something like that." The sheriff deadpanned grimly. Putting her hands on her hips she stopped pacing to stand before him in her always challenging aura so much like her mother and father.

The Dark One shook his head as he rose from the old chair with a heavy grunt. "I'm sorry Miss Swann; I can do many things, but that I am afraid that isn't in my vast repertoire. Magic can do many things, but it cannot look into the hearts of men." Snatching up his cane he smiled amiably at her. "Sorry you had to come all the down here, but my only advice to you is keep a perceptive eye out. Now if that's all, I have other activities to accomplish besides prattling the day away with you."

Abruptly, a cunning smile involuntarily wormed upon the blondes hardened features in a motion that inwardly took Mr. Gold aback. For centuries he had made a living off reading people, and he could tell, just by the schemers grin fully bloomed upon her face, she had been up to something other than just coming for aid.

Belle.

The fiend's dark brown eyes widened slightly at the startling realization. His heart picked up its dulled tempo to a racing beat that flooded fear through his veins and thundered blood through his ears in a deafening roar.

Why hadn't he seen it sooner? Of course Emma Swann was not one to leave a friend in dire straights by any means; especially one as bright and level headed as Belle who could be a valuable addition to her rebels.

He wanted to curse aloud at himself, for like an over confident idiot he had left his Belle vulnerable to whatever plot was at play to reclaim her once more.

Forcing himself not to show a hint of anger or fear upon his scruffy features the fiend beckon the sheriff out of the back room in his normal gentlemanly manner though couldn't surpass a small bit of urgency with every motion.

Even though he wanted to race to the front room as though the hounds of hell were baying at his heels, the Dark One strolled at a forced leisurely stride set by Emma Swann who took her time waltzing about almost in a taunting gait.

Magic lurked dangerously right under his flesh; ready to be cast and reclaim his love if some how some way if the rescuers where still present. A part of him held no doubt Belle was gone. After all he had done, what reason was there for her to stay a prisoner.

To say that he was surprised to see the Mad Hatter standing by the counter, and not running out of the shop with Belle in tow would have been the biggest understatement of the century.

Surprise instantly flitted away once again to be replaced with boiling rage. Anger coiled in a pulsing rage like his throbbing heart bashing with a blazing vigor wantonly against his chest.

His spindly fingers curled tightly about the gold handled cane until he was certain he had gouged irreparable dents into the expensive crafted hilt by the strength of his fury alone.

Lavender magic, dark and wild, flecked his orbs of brown as he all but threw his calm demeanor to the wind.

A spell was about to viciously burst from his sneer curled lips, ready to conjure the somber hatter into a flea to crush between his fingers.

It was only then he noticed the slight retraction of light shining from the handcuffs in the corner of his eyes. Halting his angered trek, the Dark One turned to see his Belle was still securely cuffed to the counter, though he could see a see tapering scratches upon the reflective steel where some device had marred it.

On his other side he could see Emma staring in alarm and stark confusion at the calmly leaning Hatter. What had gone wrong?

The hatter merely shrugged mournfully at the incredulous glance and the silent, wary inquiry of the dumbfounded sheriff. His snow gray eyes danced with dark melancholy, but almost with something else that flecked his somber orbs; finality, closure?

Turning to the pernicious Dark One, who stared at him in a murderous wrath that defied all other fury, Jefferson's lips down turned sorrowfully; undeterred by the fire of hell being shot his way. "You're a very lucky man, Rumpelstiltskin." He admitted quietly, his tone was nearly one of prophetic disbelief.

Offering Belle a small, respectful nod the haberdasher strode out of the shop and into the crisp fall afternoon. He paused upon the threshold, his head tilted towards the endless blue expanse as he wrapped his jacket and scarf about him tighter.

His whole body stood straighter as he breathed in one massive intake of air and began walking briskly down the concrete walk and leaving a rather confused Emma trailing with vast incomprehension in his wake.

Fury that gathered akin to threatening storm clouds inside Rumpelstiltskin's heart was evaporated into thin wisps of nothingness leaving the magical fiend and at a shocked loss towards the hatter's words.

For a moment he stared at the clear glass door watching a few crimson leaves, ferried by the chilled wind, skiff past the door for lack of anything better to do, and to place his bounding thoughts back in order.

Belle had had the opportunity to slip away with the handsome hatter. She could have stolen out of the dust filled pawnshop just as he had stolen her days before. Her choice would have been made known vividly clear to all that she had fallen for another, more acceptable man.

And yet she remained. By some heaven sent miracle she sat there inches from his side.

"Why didn't you go with him?" He dared asked, his words stumbling out nervously.

His voice was little more than a choked tremulous whisper as his chocolate brown orbs sat riveted in a determined stare to the glass door.

Coward that he was he couldn't bear to look at her features, or scrape up enough of his pathetic courage to see what truth or deceit danced with her cerulean depths.

A delicate hand landed softly upon his shoulder in a comforting way that made his breath hitch tightly in his throat and his heart leap in his chest. "I don't love him, Rum." The gorgeous woman responded gently.

Her free hand drifted from his shoulder to his hand leaving a trail of fire wherever she touched. Did she even comprehend what she did to him with every move and every feel of her flesh upon his own? Surly she must have had some inkling of knowledge that her fingers lightly brushing his skin could do more to him than all the magic's of the realms combined.

"I love you." She gripped his hand tightly in her own, her very touch balm to his tormented soul; the poultice to soothe the gaping wound that never healed in his heart. Anger tried to keep hold with his owning claws, gripping stubbornly into his emotions and digging deeper to keep from being yanked away and discarded.

The vile darkness festering inside him whispered her words were only lies meant to taunt him so that she and Jefferson could laugh at his stupidity while meeting together. And yet, Belle had never lied to him thus far.

"But…but I saw you…" The fiend stammered, unsure of his own words. In retrospect he hadn't seen anything. It wasn't a crime to jest with another man. Had she done anything damning in the slightest?

A small smile pecked at the corner of her lips as she cocked her head slightly to the right. "Has me spending time with Jefferson been what all this has been about?" The words came out half in amusement and partly in sudden realization.

"I was afraid I was losing you." He choked regretfully, finally turning to face her.

A heated flush rose in fiery crimson upon his cheeks and the tips of his ears as he tilted his head down ashamedly as though he wasn't worthy enough to gaze upon her gorgeous beauty.

"Look at me Belle; I am a beast in this world and the last. I am an ugly, tainted, monstrous craven meant to crawl in the filthy sewers and prey upon the weak rather than dwell side by side with decent, honest folk. And you…" He paused to take both her hands and engulf them in his own to press them close to his hammering heart. "And you, some times I think you're the only reason why the sun rises at dawn and the moon waxes into the night. Your very smile is what makes my heart beat. You are beautiful in every regard; not just on the outside, but inward. Any man would be blessed beyond measure for you to even consider them as a potential mate, least of all me."

Unworthiness had stoked his jealously, he knew critically now that he had admitted his roiling feelings aloud. To have her willingly love something as beastly as he still was barely believable even to him, and yet here she was when she could have just as easily escaped with the hatter.

She proved her love and he was humbled beyond measure for that when he couldn't trust his own instincts on the matter. Part of him wanted to fall to his knees and beg her forgiveness for how foolish he had been and how he had treated her, but he remained standing, caught in her warm touch felt as though it scorched his very bones and branded him as hers.

A soft smile that made the Dark One's heart sing graced her pink lips as the mist of tears brimmed in her sapphire depths. Her palm lay kindly upon his heated cheek as she lifted his head up to meet his dark brown orbs with her light blue.

"My heart belongs to you and you alone, Rumpelstiltskin. Nothing will ever change that." She whispered in a solemn vow.

"I am supremely undeserving of such a precious thing." He kissed her free wrist tenderly.

Realizing she was still clapped in cuffs to the counter, the Dark One scowled briefly as he snapped his dexterous fingers; beckoning the magic to his command.

The faint sickly sweet aroma of his power wafted through the air before dark amethyst fog encircled the cuffs. In a blink of an eye she was free leaving the steel like melted mercury dripping to the floor.

Now completely free of her binds Belle practically leapt fully into his arms. Her forehead pressed against his neck as she nuzzled him and whispered her solemn words of love. The warmth of her breath tingling about his throat, made the fiend gulp loudly in anxiousness. How could she be so forgiving after all he had done?

He wanted some way to say he was sorry, but it was far more than that. With every fiber of his devious being he craved to show that he loved her, and would never do anything of the sort ever again.

Of course if she desired to re-join Emma's band he wouldn't deny her that, yet still there was so much more he wished to relate that simple words could not suffice. He wanted to hold her and wrap her in his arms and beg her consideration for an apology he did not even remotely deserve.

Abruptly untangling his arms from hers, the fiend widened their distance only holding one of her hands by her very finger tips.

The beauty's brow knit in thin lines of curiosity trying to gauge what he had in mind. He seemed to read her wants and desires, but surely they could not couple if they could not even spare a longing kiss…

"Do you trust me?" He inquired hoarsely, his eyes dancing with knowing and longing and wanting to achieve anything to please her.

"With all my soul." She replied truthfully, her heart near bursting as it thundered in her breast.

No more was said as the lilac hued magic's erupted from his wiry finger tips in long sinuous tendrils. The dark wisps of power spiraled around their connecting arms and then their bodies as they began to fade then become intangible altogether.

In mere moments the magic's, much like the day he had taken her from the blood soaked lands of her father besieged kingdom, carried them away upon the winds of sorcery.

This time, however, not just to his home, but to his bedroom.


	14. Future Holds

_A/N: Yay for quick updates! Thanks for taking the time to read and review lovelies!_

**~8~8~**

Belle awoke in a sea of weakened grogginess just as she had always dreamed and longed she'd once awaken on her lonesome journey back to her fathers kingdom.

In her deepest desires of her heart, while she slept upon a tavern floor or out in the wild forest, she wished not to be in a grand palace sleeping on furs and silks but always tenderly enwrapped in the warm arms of Rumpelstiltskin.

The dusk was just begin to creep upon the world, heralding the satin ebony of night stalking ever closer like a master thief. Tinges of pink and crimson streaked across the hazy orange sky and cascaded through his bedroom window. Their colors spattered gaily inside the chamber looking akin to broken shards of stained glass strewn across the dark wood floor and meandering upward to fleck upon the thick burgundy quilt layered over them in their lovely menagerie of hues.

A sigh of pleasant contentedness escaped softly from her lips as she snuggled closer into her loves owning grip. A bit of his disheveled hair hovered over his mouth every time he exhaled; only to fall back down lightly over his lips. The silly sight made the beauty stifle a mirth filled giggle.

His body so warm and close felt like a silent promise to never abandon her again and in that instance no one could have dissuaded her otherwise be it evil queens or powerful curses whispering those feelings were nothing more than lies gullible fools believed.

The urge to kiss his lips washed over her, but she fought it down in a knot of stinging regret. The only thing to assuage such a hurt was her body still basking in revelation of what they could do together besides meeting their lips. Oh and they had done it so very well several times before they had nodded off into sheer exhaustion…

Crimson fired through her cheek even at the vivid remembrance of just a scant few hours past. It seemed all a rapid blur with cloths dropping off their bodies and pooling around their feet and whispers against their flesh in lieu of scorching kisses.

She tapered her fingers through her loves coarse, dark, curly chest hair, and he wove his wiry digits into her thick russet mane and whispered his sincerest words of love to his one and only.

The coaxing desire to kiss had been a burning temptation that fevered simultaneously through their blood like pure fire coursing through their veins, but they had managed to reign in the desire. How she didn't know, but perhaps it was there long over due lust overriding the demand of their hearts to kiss and to be together as they were meant to be.

She recalled him laying her down softly upon his bed in a vertible sea of dark carnelian silk sheets. His eyes, so full of warmth and tenderness, enveloped her entire being within their maple depths. It was a kind look that held testament to his utter devotion more than anything their bodies could relate in sweet coupling.

All through the evening the world became nothing more than heat and flesh and words of love whispered from the deepest recesses of their souls naked souls. They lost themselves in each others touch, and yet found one another with every move and gasp of pleasure.

She had whispered his name hoarsely in the every crescendo of their passion and he had dared the faintest ghost of a kiss upon the very edge of her lips at the pinnacled spire of their love makings.

They had only stopped when both were to vastly fatigued to go on, and they had slumped limply into slumber with their hearts still racing and their passion hardly quenched by any means.

Smiling softly as the evenings…enjoyable events replayed through her mind, the beauty absently traced tiny hearts along her loves chest imagining they were kisses against his hot skin.

One day, she promised in a whisper under her breath that buffeted against his flesh, one day they would be free to express their love with that singular gesture all they desired.

"You're tickling me." Rum mumbled sleepily, his eyes still shut to the fading light of day.

Belle furled her hand back bashfully at being caught. Her voice was an apologetic whisper. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you."

"Nothing to be sorry about." He yawned with a lazy, carefree smile, which in turn coaxed her lips to upturn into a grin once more. His grin could always summon a smile from the recesses of her soul. That was a type of magic he possessed that could only work on her.

Truth be told she didn't know how she hadn't once grinned at him when their anger had shackled their hearts in the swamps of coldness and fury and his riled jealously.

In a sudden surge of strength, the Dark One wrapped his arms about her and pulled her on top of himself with one massive heave. There bodies lay nearly flush together as she offered another sleepy smile and an Eskimo kiss of rubbing her nose with his.

"I much prefer being awake when you are what I am awakened to." He admitted playfully.

His eyes were only slightly open, but he could still see the blurred image of his love grinning lasciviously down upon him. If he could wake up to her every morning then the gray light of dawn would be magnificent to behold indeed.

He would go to sleep every night, excited about the sunrise simply to bid her good morn and have those deep dark eyes of cerulean stare back at him with all her heart bursting in that one look.

With her in his arms every night, his life would be nearly perfect…nearly. If he only had his son back, then life truly would be wonderful and whole.

Bae would love Belle, he knew intimately without a shadow of a doubt. She was kind and bright and brave and loving; all important things a boy needed in a mother.

Belle cocked her head slightly to the side as though a new angle would give her access to his inner musings. Her dark maple curls tumbled in front of her, but Rum merely chuckled and knocked them back to let her beauty pour down upon him once more.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked in her insatiable curiosity.

Rum snorted slightly in amusement at her perceptive probe. "The future." He replied simply in a sleepy retort. His Belle had always been an observant one, there was no use hiding much from her; not that he wanted to of course. He desired to share his life in all aspects with the gorgeous woman whom, for some reason that would baffle the most brilliant of minds, loved him.

Already he had his Belle and his power, all he needed now was his son and the future was a bright, wondrous one indeed.

"Oh?" She smiled and pressed her forehead against his so that their lips were mere inches apart. "I like to imagine our future sometimes as well. At night, when sleep evades me, I picture we're back home in our true world, happy and content."

"Living our lives in peace and joy in the Dark Castle like old times." He included with his own dreams of what was to come.

She giggled, warmly touched by his humble hopes and desires. "Keeping in touch with our friends in their kingdoms about the realms." The beauty added in a whisper.

"Not having children burst into a waterfall of tears at the sight of me, nor being loathsomely feared by every person when traipsing into a town square."

"Attending summer eve balls with my true love and dancing under the diamond studded heavens."

"Having a legion of servants to clean the Dark Castle, so you won't have to." An impish grin of mischief bloomed upon his five o'clock shadowed face at a sudden thought to add in addendum to his quip. "With Regina as the scullery maid scrubbing pots all the day long!"

The pair stared straight faced at one another for a few heartbeats, their features giving not a hint of their true demeanors away before they broke down into a raucous chorus of ridiculous laughter. Merry peals of amusment rang out all about them at the impossible, rediculous notions they so whispered to one another.

They spoke only dreams and fancies of course. Both knew rather plainly Rum would probably still be loathed and hunted down for his head to be lopped from his body for his crimes against the realms and playing a hand in getting them all to this strange land. He had crafted the curse no less!

Anyone who had committed such atrocities as he would never be forgiven for all the pain and sorrow he had wrought about the worlds. There were too many lives he had tampered with, to many regal monarchs and nobles he had toyed with for the outcome to be any different. One did not simply allow someone like him wander free for the anathema his devious mind and worked.

The maple haired beauty was under no illusion she might spend the rest of her days in a cell with her love, or living as outlaws in the forest as Emma and her band was doing now.

But still those fates seemed a small pittance for living a life unashamedly with him. To share whatever ground he slept on, and to kiss him freely seemed a more fulfilling happier fate than being trussed up in silken finery and dwelling in lavish comfort in any plush castle no matter how extravagant.

If they found a way to imprison him she would rest upon the same cold stone as he, if they were shunned by the realms and chased into the forests they would share the same cloak under the banners of stars and night, if they managed to slay him then it would be two bodies they would bury that day.

They were two spirits as one; bound by, blood, flesh, and soul. Their fates were interwoven and corded with the threads of love in a bind that would never be undone.

But still, a part of the beauty had to wonder, just what was taking those days of outlaw-living to come? Not that she wasn't grateful for her time spent in freedom with her love, with no knights galloping on their heels in a search. But her endless curiosity begged to be answered why they weren't running through the infinite forest at that moment in time instead of still residing in the quaint shire of Storybrooke?

"Who are you waiting for?" Belle asked suddenly, her cobalt orbs sparkling in infamous curiosity.

Rum hissed in a sharp intake of air, taken aback by the astute, perceptive question. How did she even remotely guess that? "Why do you think I am waiting for some one?" He answered with another question in attempts to dodge her observant inquiry.

The lovely beauty crinkled her nose, feigning mock insult. "You take me for an idiot, Rum?"

"No!" He retorted in a frantic panic as he held her naked body closer, determined not to let her fall into the despondent mire of anger once more.

Her heart thudded faster against his chest at the movement, and he to felt his blood quicken simply having her so impossibly close. It was almost as though they were one.

"Calm down I was only joking." She chuckled at his fervency to dissuade any notion of offence. "You're the Dark One; there is not much you can't do. If you wanted something ordinary you could have conjured it to you with a snap of your fingers. If it was magical you could have tracked it down the day you brought magic into this world. By logical deduction it can't be inanimate nor can it be something as simple as a spell, meaning it has to be a living, breathing, person; some one special."

Belle, always so tactile and intuitive. Rum smiled warmly at his brillaint love, his heart burst with pride for this wise woman who cast her passions with him. Had they been born in this world she would have most assuredly been a doctor of some kind, or perhaps even a lawyer with that bright head on her shoulders.

For the fiend it was just another fact in the long list of reasons he didn't deserve her by any means.

Long minutes passed between them as they stared deeply into one another's depths. The light outside was fading darker and darker with every heartbeat until they could barely make out the others features they already knew by heart.

Perhaps it was time for her to learn the truth, Rum pondered. A bit of guilt stung his soul making him shake his head forlornly at the thought. No, it was past time she learned of his machinations and why he had set everything upon this course those 28 years ago. Mayhap if he had opened up to her the night she had dared kiss him none of her being captured and them being apart would have occured.

"My son." Rum sighed painfully in admittance, his voice strangled by a lump of sorrow and the strain of tears welling in his eyes.

He turned his head away from her to stare at the very last rays of day sinking into darkness like the encroaching, malignant blackness of his shriveled soul lurking sordidly in his spirit. "You were not the only one whom I chose my power over, Belle. Long, long ago I lost my boy, my Baelfire, to my cowardice."

"What?" Belle whispered in disbelief, her eyes narrowing and pallid brown knitting in incomprehension.

A solitary tear rolled down his rough cheek as Rum nodded mournfully. "Yes, I am an even bigger craven that what everyone else believes. My son, so young and brave. He saw my power corrupt me; eat me from the inside out like some carrion picking at the innards of a fetid corpse. I broke my promise to him that if he found a way to take the power from me safely, I would do so without question. The only way was to travel to a land without magic, where the claws of the darkness couldn't claim me with the temptation of having power. But when the moment came to journey into the portal with my boy I…I…I proved that day that I was a monster, for a monster has not a scrap of courage or honor. A man, even the most vile, depraved, repugnant, horrid soul upon the earth possess a single sliver of courage in his body no matter how insignificant. And I had not a drop in me. Not then…not now."

He remembered that night as though it had only happened a moment before. The images of the blindingly white portal opening like a milky oracles eye, and then shutting back to a darkened void leaving him berfet of his boy, would be branded into his memory for all eternity.

It was the fuel of his nightmares, the bane he woke up to with a dry scream tearing past his lips to and a body drenched in the shivering slick sweat of regretful remembrance. Many times his hands would be clenching and unclenching as though they were still trying to dig into the moist earth for his lost son.

The darkened woods had been alive with the sound of his mournful, feral cries that crisp night. His sorrow filled sobbing seemed akin to a wounded wolf baying painfully at the hidden moon somewhere about the thick canopy.

It was then he had truly lost his humanity and what had made him a man; the night he became the beast.

"Do you know you love a coward, Belle?" He choked in a gasp that stifled back the wall of tears shimmering in his eyes. "A beast, a monster, and a coward. You get all three in one loathsome soul."

Slowly loosening his grip upon the taciturn Belle, the fiend prepared the projectiles of anger to spear his soul and skewer him with her outraged, surprised words of disgust. Now that the truth had been made known, he thoroughly expected her to pull away in revulsion of his revelation; abhorred she had spent a better part of the day entangled in his arms and writhing beneath him in passion.

Women do not love cowards after all.

What he had done was unthinkable, and to right one wrong he had damned an entire world for his gain. Nothing would ever make him appear something more than a monster as far as he was concerned.

Maybe now she would actually see who she had fallen in love with. Fate had plucked her cords on the lyre of life and had chosen the most horrid man imaginable to be with such a wonderful woman.

Had it not been his own horrible irony that knit their hearts into one, the Dark One would have laughed and jeered at such a mismatched plight.

"Oh Rum." The beauty whispered consolably to his tormented admittance.

Her heart broke for him; it ached as his ached in the throbbing piercing pain of a wound that would never be mended. His confessions, his dedication, his sorrow made her love him all the more for what he endured. Truth be told, she hadn't thought she could love him more till that moment, oh but love is such a fickle mistress. What he thought would be damning and make her shun him had simply made her love grow all the more!

Holding back tears of her own, the copper haired beauty lifted her hand to his face. Her words warbled weakly with emotion, but determined just the same. "We will find your son, Rum, and when that glorious day comes I would be deeply honored to be a part of your family."

Her words, per usual, rocked him to his very foundation. Only Belle would not repel him after such an admittance. Instead, she shared his agony and hoped to be a part of his family!

For a moment, the Dark One nearly burst into tears towards her compassion. His thumb traced tiny circles along her bare shoulder blade, his mind trying to find words that expressed what she did to her hear, and yet nothing he could utter sufficed. Oh how had he been blessed with a woman such as her?

The way she uttered it made it sound so simple, Rumpel considered as her head fell against his chest to listen to his pounding heart back flipping in his body. There were so many variables in the grand scheme of it all.

Would Bae shun him, be angry, wrathful? Could all the years of being in Storybrooke and planning the curse been for naught? What if Bae was not to be found? What if he had gathered wind of the curse and ran to the ends of the earth to escape his Papa? What if?

Abruptly, Belle nuzzled him under his chin in a more meaningful way than their usual out shows of love. Her body felt as though it flowed over him rather than shifted into a more comfortable position.

He felt himself stir to her delicate touches; touches that promised hope and happiness for the future if they remained together. Her finger tips, gliding over his bare skin, lit the roaring fire deep inside his belly and banishing the fear, just for the moment.

Nuzzling her neck back in reply, he placed the plans for the futures at peace in his worried mind. With Belle standing at his side they would figure out a way to get through. There would be some recourse for them as long as they delved into the stoked fires hand in hand.

But until then, he focused on the present and the passion she coaxed out of him just like the sun drew out the mist from the dewed earth with its tempting heat.

They could worry and dream about the future on the morrow, but for now…

He pulled the cover more fully over their entwined forms as they lost themselves into the darkness of the night and the passion that so heatedly engulfed them.

For now, they had far more making up to do.

**~8~8~**

_A/N: Incoming Regina next chapter. Duck and cover people! This is not a drill I repeat this is not a drill! :3_


	15. Framed

_A/N: Hey all! Thanks oh so much for reading and reviewing! Love to all!_

**~8~8~**

"Belle, you're back!" Grumpy stated obviously in sincere surprise as he spotted her appearing in in the dusty clearing from the barren forest fringe. His thick, work shod hand hailed her with a happy wave like a lighthouse beacon drawing the attention of the busy fighters toiling to get the mines ship-shape.

The russet haired beauty strode freely into the buzzing encampment, greeted by looks of incredulity mingled with surprise and warm smiles at her impromptu return. She couldn't truly blame them for their dubiousness, any fraternizing with the infamous Mr. Gold usually sent alarm bells clanging through the good citizens of Storybrooke's minds.

A large smile bloomed upon his thick bearded lips as he grunted with exertion, hooked a jackhammer over his shoulder and continued his trek to the mines, while whistling a little ditty, to see to their safety for habitation with the rest of his brethren.

Being a dwarf did have its advantages of course.

The band of rebels had journeyed from the leafless trees of the autumnal forest where cold ambushed them every frigidly bitter night, to the barren, abandoned mine shafts that pockmarked the outskirts of town.

It wasn't the best shelter, but all readily decided it was much better than shivering on tarps in the middle of a deadened forest in late autumn. Snow would begin to frost the leave strewn land and then layer in thick blankets making passage through the long winding roads, near impossible.

Red and black generators hummed in a rumble sonorously from the mine shafts akin to disgruntled wasps building their spring hives. Lights from the old miner's day festival had been strung up from the barren boughs of a few stunted trees, sprouting upon the barren terrain, for light. Many smoldering camp fires trailed wisps up slim pennants of smoke in the cracks of the faintly glowing embers and char from the night before.

Noise of busy rebels hammering and drilling rang clearly through out the crisp fall atmosphere, echoing about the plaintively hibernating trees and carrying the sound of industry and work aloft on the winds of a glorious autumn morn.

With Rum behind her now in full support of cavorting with Emma's band, Belle felt as though she had finally; truly found a place in the ranks of the fighters that battled for their happy ending as much as she did.

Having her love always mildly disapproving of her desire, had never settled right with her. Now, however, she couldn't wait to help organize the plans to battle the loathsome witch that had committed her unspeakable atrocities through all the land.

Breathing in the dusty air and smells of burnt wood, the brilliant beauty let the feeling of camaraderie and purpose coalesce and wash over her in a tide that calmed her expectant, quivering nerves. To have purpose was a most glorious magnificent feeling.

It had also helped that Rum had given her more than a little 'encouragement' and support. With his words of love and scorching touches he related his enthusiasm for her pursuing a dream of seeing her tormenter destroyed when they had awoken in one another arms, and in the warm water cascading over their slick bodies in the shower, and in the middle of getting dressed, and another shower, and making waffles, then yet once more a shower before they had finally departed ways from one another's hungry clutches.

"H-how did you escape? How'd you get through the barrier at all!" Mary Margaret inquired curiously, her voice low in astonishment.

Snow's face was a mask of confusion and surprise as she stalked up closely to the brown haired waitress like she could have been so foreign curios or strange animal.

Not that she wasn't relieved their friend had was safe and sound, but when it came to anything dealing with the Dark One having a few facts and more than a trifle bit of suspicion never hurt.

Belle shrugged tactfully as she saw a Ruby, Emma, and a few others she had grown in acquaintance with racing up to surround her; hungry for information.

Jefferson, she noted thankfully, was not amongst their numbers, but she thought she had spotted the quiet haberdasher once amongst the outskirts of the camp before he had ducked away.

"I didn't escape. And having your true love as the Dark One does come in handy for bypassing others magic, Snow." Belle related happily, her cerulean eyes sparkling. "Everything's been worked out. It was all a big misunderstanding." She replied cheerily.

"A misunderstanding?" Emma echoed incredulously, a brow perched in dubiousness. "If you call being shackled to a counter a misunderstanding, I'd hate to see what you termed a real problem."

At the rather astute observation the beauty laughed lightheartedly; there was so truth to those words. But, having repaired their broken bridge and making up with her true love, she was honestly at peace with the matters that had drawn them closer than they had ever been. "It's…"

"Complicated." The small group blandly filled in simultaneously like some well rehearsed choir chorus dirge.

It was all in jest they knew. Belle had uttered those words so many times, they were known by all her new found companions by heart.

Complicated appeared to go with the territory of the tumulus relationship of Mr. Gold and Belle French. In fact, complicated seemed to go with anything Rumpelstiltskin had his grimy claws in.

Smiles drifted upon every face as they eased their suspicion at her cheerful, carefree demeanor. She was unharmed and actually happy after such a clash with her love, which was really all that mattered at the moment.

As the tight knit group thinned back to their duties in making the mines where somewhat habitable before the cruel fist of winter slammed down with its full fury upon them, only the instinctive Ruby remained lingering.

Her honey gold eyes were narrowed in kind hearted suspicion to her friend as a cunning half wolfish smile drew upon her full lips in some knowledge she had gleaned simply by giving a cursory stare at her fellow server.

"You slept with him, didn't you?" The crimson clad waitress queried, though the words sounded more akin to an accusing statement rather than a question.

Heat, so scorching and scathingly hot, rose involuntarily to Belle's cheeks at the accusation making her futures turn a crimson hue that bespoke her guilt before her words even had a chance to deny it.

Her face felt on fire as she shrugged casually and began walking to one of the seven dwarves who looked like he was having a minor bit of trouble clearing debris of shards of ancient opaque coffin glass and crumbling rock.

She spared her first friend she had made in world a curious glance. "How did you guess?"

Ruby huffed as though it were obvious and rolled her lupine eyes. "I can smell his scent all over you in more ways than his pungent cologne, Hun. You'd think he was in your jacket, by how of him is on you!" She revealed with a giggle and a knowing grin. "Also, you're practically glowing! And you look as though you've just run a marathon even though I know you haven't been doing that kind of strenuous work."

"Is it…is it that obvious?" Belle asked lowly in a sudden surge of shyness enshrouding her.

Wrapping her light black coat about her body tighter she felt as though her entire body was giving away such facts like a towering billboard or a blinking neon sign above her head for all to see.

"Just my instincts, Sweetie." The scarlet server assured the beauty, her smile truthful and comforting. On a brief after thought she added. "Maybe Emma picked up a little on it, but I don't think anyone else suspects a thing."

A breath of stark relief exhaled from Belle's lush full lips that billowed a plume of misty white vapors streaming into the chilled air. It wasn't that she was ashamed of their relationship; never that! But, perhaps it wouldn't be prudent to have their nightly actions flaunted about like banner of promiscuity in the sleepy little town.

Had things been in their regular flow with people still residing obviously unawares in the quiet village such knowledge would have had the town proper in an inferno by sun down!

"So…" Ruby drawled in her sly way. Giving the russet haired woman a slight nudge with her elbow conspiratorially, the crimson waitresses golden eyes danced with dark flecks of interests and excitement for juicy details.

She seemed akin to some giggling teenage girl chatting with a friend about her first kiss. "How was it, shacking up with the Dark One?" She expressed his devious moniker with a creepy bass inflection and a mock snap of her, just a trifle too sharp, teeth.

Belle gave a longing, whimsical, sigh towards the question. No night with her love would ever fall into a blank forgetfulness. Each moment wrapped in her arms, hypnotized by his chestnuts depths, curled up in his arms would be one she recalled for a lifetime.

Her eyes seemed far off in some distance land, or some not so distant memory like a reminiscent girl in love.

Twirling a strand of her thick russet mane about her finger, she giggled ever so faintly. "Ruby, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

~8~8~

"She's what!" Regina screeched in surprised fury at her spies wary announcements. Her hand curled into an angry fist as she slammed it down upon her office desk.

The rose wood, sleek veneer splintered and cracked mildly, holding testament to her surging fury.

It couldn't be possible, she raged inwardly, letting the heat of anger slough through her blood like a fiery poisonous sludge.

The spy stammered slightly, his demeanor taken aback by such wrath sparking through her glimmering turquoise eyes like steel and flame all glinting dangerously. "Belle has returned. I don't know how or why I just know what I saw."

"But you said last time he stole her away!" The wicked sorceress cried whiningly seeming akin to a bratty child who couldn't have her way.

Snatching up a shot glass dredged with her spiced cider, the monarch snarled and tossed it across the room. Glass erupted in a dazzling display of twinkling projectiles. Its translucent shards whirled about or speared into the painted walls while brown alcohol dribbled down into a glassy mess of slivers and swill

"When Rumpel takes something he usually never lets it go, so tell me why that nuisance is tromping about with Emma and her band once more!" She screamed wrathfully.

"I…I don't know!" Replied the spy; his voice quivered as he held his hands up to block the shards of glass whipping dangerous through the magic laced air like missiles. "Look, the last thing I heard was something about a 'misunderstanding'. That's all I know, I swear!"

Regina fumed, her sable painted lips pried back in a feral sneer of rage towards the new revelation. Out of all the times, just when she was about to strike a reeling blow, she once again had to pull back her punch in order for Rumpelstiltskin not to join the bloody fray.

Captain Hooks gang was supposed to have gone in that night and given their nerves a shake just to remind those fools who was going to triumph after there idiot rebellion had been trampled beneath her heel.

A few rounds fired, a few people dead by Hook's minions, with their blood mingling in the mine dust, and morale would be so low in Emma's rebel union half of them would all but crawl back to be ruled over by Regina. And crawl is exactly what she'd make them do; right to the town hall!

Making a sudden dismissive gesture to her infiltrator, the queen turned to face the window as her mind worked it devious plots and how to crafts a new scheme. "Go, you idiot, and give me a call if anything else is discovered."

She nearly cursed as the scuffling of boots thudded faintly away. Each step was like the pounding pulse of a headache beginning to throb at her temples. Why, why, why did that beast of a man have to veer from his nature and do something so…chivalrous!

Beasts did not do the honorable thing, knightly thing! Monsters like Rumpelstiltskin stole and lied and killed for what they wanted and once they had it nothing save a sword in the gut or to the neck would pry it away.

That little slave girl should have been locked up in his home, never let out of his sight. The only time she would be seen was in his car over to his shop or walking down the street with him.

Girls captured by frothing, rabid beats usually ended up in captivity atop spiraling towers guarded by dragons, so why was she traipsing about with Emma's lot instead of in her place!

Rumpel didn't care what happened to the rebels, Regina knew. So with Belle at his side that would have left her free to pursue her dastardly machinations. And yet once again her blow had to be softened.

"I grow weary of you always putting a wrench in my plans, imp." Regina growled in a seething hiss.

Her eyes narrowed as she peered out into the glorious morn towards the direction of the mines. Somewhere beyond the fringing tree line of naked limbs and thick full pines and firs was the only thing stopping her from unleashing her entire wrath on the sorely unprepared usurpers.

A girl. One pretty little slave girl, which just so happened to be Rumpelstiltskin's true love, barred the way for her barreling down the ultimate destruction and finishing the war with one fail swoop.

For a moment she considered what would happen if Belle was intentionally killed in the fray. Accidents did happen, a stray bullet hitting its mark on her heart, a fatal mistake, run down by the droves of bodies or cars as they ran or fought their sworn enemies.

Immediately she shook the thought of the beauty's demise away. If that happened she would instantly loose the fight she had planned so ingeniously.

Not only would she lose, but a grief stricken and enraged Rumpel would seek her head and rip it gorily from her body with his bare hands, she held no doubt.

A hand involuntarily flew to her bobbing throat at the thought of having his blackened talons sinking into the thick cords and supple flesh of her neck and simply…pulling until her head was swinging from his tear and blood soaked grip.

No, she spat in disgust inwardly, killing the annoyance was off limits. But then…did she really need to kill her at all to get her out the way…? Would her drawing breath be a great advantage she had never considered? What if having Belle alive was the key to solving her problem entirely?

Racing to her red colored corded phone, the Madame Mayor frantically tapped in the number to her spy's cell.

Only an ominous click was heard as enough for her to begin to spring her plot upon the traitor. "Listen carefully, fool. I need to know where Belle is at exactly ten minutes before eight o'clock tonight. Specific mind you, is she outside, in the mines, prancing about the forest, I don't care, just make sure you know her exact whereabouts."

"Uh…eight?" The voice sounded unsure almost nervous as though another person could have been on the line. "Isn't that when…"

"Yes, Hook is bringing his gang down there." She assured him impatiently. "The plan is still a go, but I've found a way to kill two birds with one stone…figuratively speaking of course."

No, there would be no killing of Belle French at all. Plans depended on the nuisance to keep drawing breath.

~8~8~

"Leaving so soon?" Emma asked teasingly as she waked up to the wandering beauty.

Even though the mines were dim with only a few harsh work lights hanging from the now secured rafters and a large debris fire that flickered ominously about the room, it was still hard to miss the beauty slipping on her coat and eyeing the door in expectation like a defenseless Regina would walk through at any moment.

Belle flushed while zipping up her jacket and wrapping her red knit wool scarf about her throat. "Rum and I have an agreement. You all get my attention by day, and if there's not an emergency-"

"He gets you by night." The blonde concluded with a knowing smile and an amused twinkle in her blue eyes. Yes, she knew very well what was going on.

"How long did it take you to catch on?" The russet haired beauty laughed, the noise echoing about the mine like a low peal of thunder from the surface world.

Emma managed a small crooked grin. "About five when you couldn't keep your eyes away from the town proper. If I am not mistaken, Mr. Gold usually closes shop about then."

The sheriff knew the beauty wouldn't go had they had an emergency on their hands or were planning a strike, but right now when everything was in a quiet lull, she herself understood the craving well enough. Her only regret is that she hadn't some one to share that feeling with.

"Have fun." She jested in her dry humor, trying to stifle a pang of envy away with an oblique smile.

As Belle exited the mine, she wrapped her jacket tighter to fend off the cool air whispering about. The cold night held an abundance of alabaster stars in their velvet bed of onyx. Through the gnarled bereft branches she could make out Sirius and the little dipper nestled in their ancient perches in the heavens.

Perhaps she and Rum could stare at the stars tonight before they drifted to bed, she pondered hopefully.

She could just imagine them sharing a thick blanket for warmth and two steaming mugs of cocoa as they snuggled on top of his roof and stared at the sable firmament till they drifted to sleep with the diamonds of night twinkling down at them.

Her gaze turned upon the faint glow of the town, her heart suddenly yearning with more longing than it ever had to be near him.

Starting on her journey, she giggled at Emma's quip referring to 'fun'. Oh there was no need to worry about that!

Had she been paying more attention to her tranquil surroundings instead of the cache of stars held amidst the dark blankets of night, the beauty would have noticed a figure hanging back in the voided shadow of the mines watching her take the road back to town.

~8~8~

Belle arrived back early to the mines to witness complete and utter devastation.

At first she stood stunned at the reposing forest edge, unable to grasp the destructive sight before her.

What had been industrious work yesterday had been completely smashed down. Lights had be yanked from the trees with their bulbs cracked and shattered. Generators lay kicked over and devoid of gas which pooled under their bulks or some sputtering pitifully in their last efforts to work while others simply sat engulfed in flames and melting plastic with the ground scorched all around.

A few of the mine openings had collapsed into heaps of rubble where it was evident someone had used some form of explosive or even a…cannon to blow out hunks of the support beams and shoring.

Oily black smoke coiled in thick banners into the gray sky where fires had been burnt out, having devouring what little the rebels had in flame. Even the sky seemed to have turned into a scathing crimson hue as though the dawn itself sobbed tears of blood for the loss.

Tire tracks imprinted the wet ground in a maze that swerved helter-skelter and slugs and bullet casing littered the ground like seeds of stones. Blood sprinkled the earth and splashed upon some of the stones and even the foot prints had been indented with the crimson fluid.

To her left people where lying in rows cleared from the disaster zone. They lay on bloodied coats or tarps, moaning and screaming unabashedly in pain, while some lay very still peering intently into the murky heavens with glassed over gazes that saw nothing but darkness.

Travesty had struck, she knew imperatively. Regina had struck.

"There she is!" A hoarse, tear choked voice hailed out from the racing rebels trying to help and salvage what little they possibly could.

Work halted abruptly as people dropped their tasks both menial and important to glare at the lonesome beauty staring aghast at the carnage in dumb shock.

She hadn't even registered the words, nor had she noticed the wrathful rebels glowering at her until Emma stalked up like some prowling beast honing in upon its prey.

Her eyes were aglow with tears and flame as she stood face to face with Belle, making the beauty snap out of her dumb shock.

Shaking her russet curls she blinked in disbelief at Emma. "What…what happened…?" She whispered in total blankness at the gruesome scene.

A feral growl escaped Emma's lips like a rabid wolf warning rumble. "As if you don't know, traitor."

The beauty's brow knits in sudden confusion at the spiteful words practically spat upon her. "I'm sorry…what?"

Traitor? Had grief caused the sheriff to go mad?

"I don't know why I didn't see it sooner." The blonde sheriff snorted in plumes of opaque mist of heated anger, more to herself than Belle. "You were the one who found the information on the mines, you where the one who helped us when Ashley was taken; you were the one who just so happened to be gone for days knowing all our plans and designs."

"You…you think…?" Belle stuttered in surprise, unable to believe what she was hearing. It was as though she were in one of her drug induced dozes back under the hospital again, unable to awaken.

They thought her a traitor conspiring with the very woman she loathed more than any other being upon this world or the last.

Emma planted her hand on the beauty by her shoulder. Her grip was a vice clamped as she pushed the brown haired woman and slammed her back thunderously into a tall oaks broad trunk.

Breath heaved out of Belle's lungs at the titanic blow and the force of anger induced power flowing through Emma's veins that pinned her decisively to the tree.

With her breath still trying to find its way into her lungs, she was powerless to stop the blonde from turning her to face the tree and slamming her once more against the rough bark while clapping the cold steel of cuffs on her wrists.

Belle's head swam in blinding pain as her forehead collided dazedly with the tree. Stars burst in bright flares through her vision like fireworks being set off right in front of her eyes. For a moment she might have even blacked out with such a cracking blow to her skull.

Somewhere in the dizzying realm of conscious she could feel something warm trickling down her face and sliding past her lips with a faint iron smell.

"None of this happened until _you _came back and when _you _left. No one else departed last night and no one has the spell on you that Mr. Gold gave you to bypass the shield." She all but roared in the stunned beauty's ears. "Hook and his boys ran through out defenses right where they knew we were vulnerable. You had that information, Belle. You helped me plan our defenses! We trusted you, Belle!"

She tried to protest while pain sang in her mind in a raucous symphony. "Emma! You've made a mistake…I'm not…I mean…"

"Save your lies." The flaxen haired sheriff growled through clenched teeth. Hauling Belle forward she paid no heed to the beauty neither stumbling nor halted those about from throwing curses at who they once thought friend.

"W-where are you taking me?" The accused woman queried in a slur that slumped off slightly into unconsciousness.

She could feel air about her grow much cooler and soggier and nearly balmy against her flesh. The light of day grew dark and musty as she was dragged unceremoniously through one of the mines.

Half the time she managed to trail pitifully behind, while the rest of the time she had half dragged in her concussive stupor and world turning dizziness.

The squeal of rusted steel screeched in her ears, making her blood run to ice and halt in her veins.

With a grunt, Emma all but threw her into a cell tucked away in the rock of the mines. "Your boyfriend would know the place." The sheriff spat grimly as she stomped away, filled with such loathing and guilt and sorrow it was a wonder how she was still standing tall instead of stooping with the weight of it all.

It took Belle's eyes a few moments than normal to acclimate to the dim light dampened about her as well for her head to stop spinning and to swipe the blood and dust from her eyes.

As her cobalt orbs focused back properly, her eyes widened in fear to find she was behind rusted bars shaped like pointed jagged fangs of a grinning maw all the way at the back of one of the mines.


	16. Sacrifices We Make

Mr. Gold knew something had occurred on the third night when there was no Belle to greet him in his lavish, coral pink home. The lonesome, dull thuds of his shoes and his gold handled cane rapping in tandem with his steps were the only noises heard in the dark silent home.

Of course he knew she was likely busy planning and strategizing, but that still did not deny a hint of jealously to creep up inside his spirit as he wished he was the one she spent her waking hours with.

No lights had been flicked on in his massive dwelling and the mess of clothes strewn in vibrant swaths upon the bed room floor nor the thick quilts drooping unmade from the bed had been tampered with. Their bedroom looked as it had been that early morning he'd last seen her when they'd decided instead of tidying up, by snatching up the littered clothes or even making the bed, to spend those precious moments together locked in one another's embrace chatting about what the day would bring.

Had he even an inkling of what the hand of evil had wrought upon the rebels in the quiet hours of night he would have never let her go back alone, much less so defenseless.

Disappointment pooled in the Dark One, gathering in a puddle of dejection. He drifted from room to room like some other worldly specter looking for a lost love or even some sign she had come back but the resistance had called her back to the enclave on the outskirts of the town proper.

While she had only stayed with him a few days, the house felt so lifeless, like an ancient mausoleum, without his vivacious, curious Belle languishing in his bed or scuffling about the house recalling things from the Dark Castle, or discovering some of his newly acquired trinkets.

A melancholic sigh whispered past his lips as he slumped sadly unto the edge of their bed. He raked his wiry, calloused fingers through his dirty brown tresses feeling so lost without her by his side. His body felt numb without her whispering tantalizing tidbits in his ear, or her lovely gaze deeming to fall on him.

Belle made his extravagant house more than an exquisite sarcophagus feared by all who walked pasts the ominous domicile. Her very presence, her laugh, her smile awakened life in the dwelling transforming it into a home better than a trifling spell or incantation of magic could manage.

It was the lovely beauty who breathed personality into the salmon pink painted boards and a certain welcome feel that had always been bereft of the large dwelling.

Abruptly the door bell dinged jovially through the home like some sweet angels whistle tittering about the dusty confines of his home. His head jerked up at the sound as his dully thudding heart leapt ecstatically in his sunken chest.

Nobody ever came to his place of residence; they barely came to his shop to strike a few bargains and trades. Some even jumped to the other side of the street to avoid even coming under the shadow of its monstrous confines.

Heart climbed higher in his tightening throat as the Dark One leapt up, racing down to the soul pounding upon his door. His feet barely skimmed the floor or the winding steps as he flew to ringing door belle.

It had to be Belle, for no one would be knocking on his door at such a beastly hour. Maybe she had lost her key, maybe she wanted to surprise him with something. Whatever it was, he was just happy his love was finally home!

It felt like forever he was fiddling with the locks adorned over the portal. A growl rumbled in his throat, his fingers refusing to work on their own accord for the latches and gold hooks and chains all strewn akin to military tassels bedecking the door to deny anyone with ill intent entry.

A cheer of victory nearly echoed about the home as he swung open the door fervently, expecting his Belle to leap into his arms with a breath stealing kiss to lose themselves in one another arms and forget about curses and queens and rebels for a small time.

Instead he was met by a darkly glowering, hunched over, Ruby.

The scarlet server had donned a silken red scarf over her thick dark locks and a black trench coat to help conceal who she was to those patrolling the empty streets of Storybrooke.

Feeling cheated, the Dark One scowled angrily at the crimson clad waitress forcing him not to slam the door in her lupine face. Annoyance and a smoldering ember of fury flared sporadically in the cunning flecks of his chestnut orbs.

"Is there something you want, Ruby?" The magical fiend inquired icily, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he drummed his dexterous fingers against the edge of the door in suffering irritation.

A sneer wrenched across the lycanthropes crimson smeared lips, but she managed to quell her feral fury and utter hatred aside long enough to focus on why she had gone through so much trouble.

It had taken 3 days of arguing with Emma and calling in a favor from Astrid to open up a way through the barrier for her to slip through without anyone else's knowing, and then ducking and diving through the intangible shadows and alleyways to dodge Regina's idiot crones.

Having gone through to much trouble to land on his front step, she refused to let her savagery override the aid for a friend in need. Belle was in dire straights and if that meant having to actually hold a conversation with the most hated man in Storybrooke, then so be it.

She wrapped the full length trench coat tighter about her lithe body. "Look, you don't like me and I don't like you, but I'm doing this for Belle." Sucking in a deep breath of the chill autumn air she pressed on stoically. "Three days ago Belle was taken prisoner. Everyone is calling her a traitor for what Captain Hook and his scum did. They killed 11 of us and wounded 17. Only Belle had left that night so the onus is falling on her as the one who's been tipping the queen off."

"What?" Gold echoed in incomprehensible belief, his dark russet orbs searching the woman for some sort of like or deceit.

They thought Belle a traitor? The very notion was preposterous in every way! Belle was as loyal as they came. He could recall multiple times in the halls of the Dark Castle where she could have had opportunities to flee and yet had stood staunchly faithful to her deal.

Disloyalty and Belle did not even remotely belong in the same sentence much less with Emma and her lot smearing it all over her reputation and dubbing her such a foul moniker!

Fear, for his lovely Belle pooled deep inside the magical monsters gut, causing him nearly to stagger in panic. What were they doing to her at that precise moment? Interrogating her under harsh lights, delivering some sort of flawed justice, even to go so far as torturing her?

Abruptly the businessman's dexterous hands shot out towards the glowering Ruby in a frantic speed. As quick as she was with her feral nature, the Dark One was faster and before she could even blink he was only inches from her face; snarling savagely at her. His features were alit with a dark conflagration of anger that felt as though it burned her skin to ash and char.

Rage flickered in his dark whisky brown depths as though the bickering fires of hell were stoked behind his dilating irises. Magic tingled ominously through the air akin to the way the atmosphere feels when a gale is nearing the shore.

"Where is she, Ruby?" He hissed angrily to hide his stark panic fevering through his blood. The fiend barbarically shook the waitress like a rag doll when she failed to answer immediately. "What have they done with her!"

The hairs on the back of the crimson fashioned waitress stood on end as she stood caught in the pernicious, furious stare of the Dark One. Her knees were barely supporting her, but some inner animal instinct warned her not answering could end her life far too quickly.

"In…in one of the mines. They tossed her into your old cell." She quailed, her teeth chattering.

At that, the fiend numbly let her free from his clutching grasp as though it had never been at all. An ashen parlor overcame his face, making it look as though the blood in his body had evaporated like mist against the sun.

Without the Dark One holding her up, the werewolf slumped down to the wooden stoop, her body trembling violently in the heat of his uncontrollable fury and his sudden blank numbness.

To be honest, she had no idea which was more frightening.

They had out her in a cell. That one thought rang about the devious monsters head akin to a clangor of bells being tolled direly through his mind; pealing with those words that shot heat back through his icy veins.

Did they know what anathema they had done in their grief and anger; what horror they had just unwittingly committed?

They had out her in a cell! "Those fools." He ground out through grit teeth, his hands curling into twin trembling fist. "Those bloody fools!"

Living in a gray padded cage for a healthy portion of 30 years had culminated in her a hefty fear of small, dark places! No, he reprimanded himself, fear was an understatement; she was utterly, absolutely terrified of any place that seemed tiny or tight. Her breathing would pick up, and sweat would begin to prick from her porcelain skin.

Even at night in their bed room he kept the door open and was always there to hold her when she awoke thinking she was back in a dark, miniscule cell with the walls closing in to crush her.

Had they no idea what was happening in her mind now back in a small cage!

The Dark One still recalled every inch of that cell they had trapped him in oh so long ago. It was a little bigger than the one Regina had stowed her away in, but far more wretched and horrid than Belle's own. At least her old cell had possessed some paltry comfort, a little light streaming through a small window, a thin gray blanket over upon the padded ledge she slept on.

Nothing was in his old cage save for misery and fear.

A lash of pain racked across his heart at a sudden thought gripping into his mind with like a wolf's fangs. She had once said she had screamed his name for her to rescue him, screamed and begged and wept for him.

It felt as though a skeletons claw was clamping relentlessly at his heart with remembrance that haunted the recesses of his thoughts. Was she doing so now; was she crying for him to free her from such a loathsome cell?

Magic boiled untamed in his blood as he brought for the dark powers that acclaimed him the most powerful man in all the realms. Darkness pulsed with every beat of his heart, murder whispered upon the magical winds that sprung up about his rigid figure.

Ruby scrambled away in fright as lilac stained clouds seeped from under his shoes and began to enshroud him like a veil of lavender.

The wind picked up like the vicious zephyr of a hurricane swirling to his mere thought and whim. His face was a grisly crest of determination and fear as his dark eyes fell upon Ruby. At least she would live for her service to Belle in warning him of his loves dire situation. "I suggest you find a safe place to hide in town. Things are about to get rather messy."

With that he vanished in a crackle of plum hued magic, leaving a heart worn and worrying Ruby trying to stagger to her feet and run out into the blackness of the November midnight.

~8~8~

Darkness thickly pooled like freshly shed blood all about the numb beauty. Utter blackness did have a smell, she readily surmised while staring blankly in the voided onyx weighing upon her akin to a physical force.

To her the voided onyx had an aroma of spilt blood and dust lying in the heat of a summer's sun scorching the land. Its scent was atrociously horrid, nearly making her want to gag, but then she had to keep telling herself, that the endless void could not possibly have a fragrance.

All in her mind, she repeated lowly, trying to keep the thought alive.

Curling up tighter on the thick stone slab she rested on, a part of her wondered when the nurse was going to bring her a cup of pills and lunch of the ever gray unidentifiable mush.

No! She chastised herself with a determined shake of her head and a curse lowly murmured from her lips. Curling her hands deep into her dirty amber locks she tried to set her thoughts properly on what was real and what was mere delusion. She was not still in the five by five, gray and off white padded room of the Storybrooke hospital, she was in a cage in a mine shaft.

And yet, sometimes it was difficult to truly believe that. At moments her vision would only see the forever dulled white all around her, she could picture two teal eyes staring at her through an iron slit as though she were some sort of secret weapon.

Once she looked up trying to find the small rectangular window that had beamed down a paltry amount of light in the day, the only luxury ever afforded her, and even that was not there anymore.

Or maybe it was? What if everything she had experienced was merely an intricate, convincing allusion woven by a broken mind. What if there was no curse, no 'other world' what if she had always been in the small cage under the feet of the living, forgotten for all of eternity. What if the queen had played it all and she was still under her castle caught in some torture that never ended? What if…what if this was the world and she was the only one found in such a place and this was how minds truly did work?

What if she existed only in some one else's mind? What if she wasn't even Belle?

She faced one of the walls adjacent to the stone slab that served as a bed, her clever finger slowly tracing along the rough stone, making words that came to her head, just as she had done in her old cell.

In retrospect, she now recalled the invisible words she doodled on the gray concrete padded walls in her drug addled state was always the name of her love - Rumpelstiltskin. She liked to think that had kept her sane for all those years, writing and rewriting his name, even though she hadn't known it was his title she drew.

"Rumpelstiltskin." She whispered desperately into the fetid darkness with the last scrap of her sanity hanging by a thread. "His name is Rumpelstiltskin." That she knew without second guessing; that was her anchor to sanity.

Some part of her believed simply repeating his name in a mantra was the only thing keeping her mind from completely falling into an abyss of stark insanity never to be seen again with lucid reasoning.

Tears pooled in her eyes as she tried to rasp out his name again. "Rum…" What had the other part been?

"Belle." A voice, his voice, suddenly echoed about the mine making her heart stop.

In that moment, the beauty truly did consider she had lost her battle with the encroaching madness. Had her mind finally given up its tenacious fight and broken into the world of delusion?

Nevertheless, her head slowly perched up, even though she expected to see no one and simply hear the sound of her loves voice bouncing of the cold stone in some cruel taunt of the craziness.

But no, there she saw a figure, aglow like an ember in the pitch blackness enshrouding her body and soul in an inferno. Her heart swelled as she felt the icy numbness begin to thaw with the sight of him looking so real; his shaded feutures etched with worry and anger. If it was a delusion it was most certainly a wondrous one.

As he drew nearer so did the light, like a slowly brightening fire, until the back of the mine shaft was illuminated by the magic wafting about him. His face was a mask of relief and abject fury as he stretched his hand vainly through the rusted teeth bars to reach her. "Oh Belle, what have they done to you."

Sliding down slowly from her slab of rock, the disheveled beauty padded slowly to him, her body trembling in excitement and fear. Her eyes sparkled in wariness, and her brow knit in cautious acceptance with every tremulous step forward. Was he truly there and not some figment of her inner most desires?

She didn't trust he was real, Rum knew instantly; had he been too late? His throat tightened at the sight of her so untrustworthy like some frightened, hungry animal, not knowing whether to accept aid or flee. Had he not seen her a few mornings ago when she had departed from his home, he would have thought her always like this in some madly off kilter state.

Helplessness coiled about his heart as he stared at the well known fang-like bars. Had it not been this particular prison he would have ripped the rusted bars from their holds and simply walked in to carry her out in his arms. But this was a special prison; one built with the blood of dwarves and crafted with ancient magic's to keep him caged up from blighting the rest of the world.

A cage befitting a dangerous animal, but not a lovely dove like his Belle.

"It's alright, Belle-of-mine." He soothed calmly using her pet name, his hand slowly coaxing her. "Touch my hand, see if I am here."

She scuffled towards him cautiously, her lovely features reflecting her inner turmoil and the resurgence of doubt and fears of her sanity and warped mind. He could be real and yet what if she touched him and he became noting more than mist that swirled along the caverns musty currents?

What if this Rum would damn her sanity all and entirely?

"Come on, Belle, you can do it, trust me. You know me, Belle, you know me." Whispered the Dark One in encouragement, letting her take her time.

Time halted in its eternal trek for the fiend, his breath seemed to be bereft of his body as he watched her small, timid steps towards her, and just how she had been when she entered her shop; so lost and untrusting.

She was nearly there! Her hand stretched vapidly out to meet his fingers. One touch, he knew imperatively, and she would be alright. Her mind would mend as it did before, and she would know he was real and not some conjuration of a broken mind. And then, then he could work on taking bloody revenge out upon those who had done this and setting her free by any means necessary.

"Rumpelstiltskin!" A hard, female, voice resounded about the cavern like a clangorous bash of thunder pummeling through the mines.

Instantly, Belle furled back her hand to her chest as though she were about to touch a scorpion. Her cobalt orbs widened with fear and betrayal as though the voice was a warning telling her this simply couldn't be real. A small whimper of terror slipped from her mouth as she frantically scrambled away to the farthest corner away from the bars.

She was a pitiful spectacle, on the floor with her hand over her head, curled up as though some one or something was about to beat her.

He spun around furiously, the heat of hell flashing dangerously through his eyes. A hand curled tightly over his cane as he stomped to meet the angered Swann charging towards him.

No greater battle clash had ever been seen before in this world or the last as the pair stood only inches apart ready to let their fury fly wantonly, not caring who it struck.

"You idiot of a woman!" He roared, pointing a wiry finger in her chest. "Let her out. You're breaking her mind!"

Emma didn't budge in the inferno of his frothing rage. Her eyes set in solid cerulean stone as she stood her ground, giving back as good as he spat at her. "I'm thinking her mind was already broken or at least brainwashed. She betrayed us to Regina!"

"She did no such thing!" He snarled in protest. At that moment he truly did appear like some savage beast guarding over what he most loved in the world. "Regina tortured her when she was in the old world and had her locked in a cage for 28 years! I don't know who your back-stabber is, but it is not my Belle. Let her out this very moment!"

The sheriff's mouth was one hard thin, pink line. "No."

For Mr. Gold, she might as well have pleaded form him to kill her at that very second.

Coils of purple magic erupted from the Dark One's finger tips barreling viciously into the curse breaker body. A whoosh of wind stole from her lungs as she found herself pinned to the stone wall like a dart. Somewhere on the back of her head she could feel blood dampen her lock honey tresses, but if it pained her she showed not a hint on her grisly features.

Little chunks of loose dirt and rock crusted to the floor, and the tendrils of sinister power began to finger about her neck seeking to strangle her and snatch away her very last breath.

"Let her go now, or I do Regina's job for her." He growled dangerously, his eyes showing only truth and fear of his dire ultimatum.

Emma managed a rasped chuckled from her slowly tightening esophagus. A weak, ghost of a smile weaseled upon her tired, palling features. "No you won't. If you can't kill Regina you can't kill me." She wheezed tactfully.

Surprise blushed across his scruffy features but he hid it behind a guise of anger. He did need her alive for now, that much was truth. "I can make you hurt more than you ever have." He threatened darkly, squeezing just a little tighter to drive home his point.

"No, you can't." Emma coughed matter-of-factly. People had met only hardship and demise with her as their leader. She had called a traitor friend and given her hoards of information under the pretense of alliance. Nothing could possibly wound her more viciously than that.

A growl, so barbaric and feral ripped from his throat at her confessions of truth. "What about your little family? Mother, father, son?" He queried. "I can hurt them; I will kill them if necessary."

"Then you kill me indirectly as well." Emma retorted gaspingly. Her face was nearly blue from lack of air and her lips where a ghastly hue. Her fingers were valiantly trying to prey the tentacles of magic away to no avail, his magic was to powerful, his anger to strong, but then again she wasn't really putting up a fight.

Grief controlled Miss Swann, a grief Rumpelstiltskin knew all to well. A grief of letting the people you love down, overriding sensible thoughts and actions to the point of seeing nothing else, even reason. She was not going to let Belle free, on simple threats, maybe she even wanted to die by Mr. Gold's hand.

No, in her mournful mind, she saw Belle the root of a malignancy. Something that should not be let back into the world, unless a greater threat could be stashed in the powerful cell.

For a moment it seemed that he was truly going to slay her. One little cruel twist of the magic's around her throat and her neck would snap like a dry twig.

Darkness began to swarm the edges of the sheriff's mind. Pain laced through her thoughts and frolicked through the brain with every slow throb of blood slowing and her breath becoming nothing more that hollow gaps.

From the last vestiges of her consciousness she thought of her son and those she had let down, and perhaps she heard the sound of some one…crying?

Abruptly Rum dropped her from the choked hold, letting her fall unceremoniously to the rubble ridden ground. Glorious air filled her lungs as she coughed and hacked with her black and blue bruised throat.

In the cell, the damaged Belle was sobbing, her hand flush against her ears and eyes screwed tight to hopefully keep her sanity. Her love was about to kill the only hope they had to go back home, truly it was the stuff of madness taking place before her.

The sight floored the Dark One more than any magic ever could. She was falling back into madness, of nightmares, where she might not awaken ever. He didn't have time to argue with Emma or bleat at her to unlock the cell, precious time was wasting and more was ticking away as he stood there. He had to do somthing before every trace of her sanity was gone.

He had to do what he did best - deal.

"Me for her." He stammered lowly, dragging his feet to the cell.

"What?" The blonde rasped in genuine surprise.

His dexterous fingers curled about the rusted jagged bars staring forlornly at the quivering image of his love slowly drowning in a sea of madness and fear, unable to reach her and comfort her. There, hunched on the dirty floor, she looked so vulnerable, so broken and he could do nothing.

No, nothing he could rant or threaten would make the sheriff release Belle, unless of course she could have something that might make up for their tragic losses. If she could show some recompense for the travesty maybe that would assuage her emotionally drained people and herself. They had no use for a traitor locked up in a cell; they had a use for him being barred away from good honest folk.

His barely swiveled his head back to Emma direction. "I'll trade places with her. Send her back to town, if you still believe she is a traitor, and I will take her place here."

The deal was far more than fair. It was undeniably cheating himself. Anyone with good sense would want him taken off the playing field to further their plans. He was a gray area, wild and neutral and unpredictable, not what either side wanted.

To have him locked away would be a double boon they could ill let slip from their grasps. If captured he would not get in their way, and if they were victorious, then they would go back to their world with a dangerous animal already back in its cage till the end of time, no more to prey upon the desperate and helpless.

"Make up your mind." He jerked his head back in Belle's direction. "This place is killing her every moment I stand talking with you."

Even Emma knew it to be a deal to good to pass up at that moment in time, traitor or not. Gold could be the bigger threat if he was pushed any further. His magic was unrivaled, and she had already seen first hand what it could accomplish with ease. Besides, him being back in his old cell would punish the conniving traitor by leaving her bereft and alone without her true love.

"Alright." She accepted with a grim nod and an incredulous glare his way. "But no funny business."

His hand clutched tighter about the steel stakes serving as bars. "Just get her out, and see her safe to our home." He whispered dourly, seeing all his carefully constructed plans being ripped asunder.

So that was it, she truly had fallen to madness. The thought brought a flotilla of burning tears to the beauty's azure eyes as she sat curled up in the corner, desperately wanting the two warring figures outside the bars to disappear.

When she could no longer take the screams pulsating around her and bouncing off the rock, she forced her hands to her ears, willing the noise to stop. She didn't know it had until a hand, a true, flesh and blood extremity touched shoulders, pulled her up, and wrapped her in warm, loving arms that promised to ward off the insanity.

Her eyes shot open in surprise, her breath taken away. Rum, real and alive was holding her carefully in his grip. His eyes glimmered in the dense firelight, a worn, saddened smile blooming upon his lips.

Just by being near to him the very last fiber of her sanity began to stitch her mind back together in working order. The world zoned in clearer, her mind lost all its fog and wandering mazes on what was real and what was not. There was no doubt, he was real and warm and holding her in his arms.

Had he been a minute later she was certain the thin line of sanity would have snapped entirely with no hope ever to mend the frayed threads.

A watery grin twitched across her porcelain, dirtied features as a sob of gratefulness burst in relief from her lips. She put her head against his chest feeling his drumming heart back-flipping crazily while he pressed her closer than ever before to his body. Had she known it was the last embrace they would share for a time, she would have been crying for far different reasons.

"You save me." She cried in a choked timbre, her entire body heaved with sobs as he stroked her hair and comforted her with the soothing of his accent and loving words whispered into her ear.

She echoed the words once more, quietly into the silken shirt directly upon his heart. "Rumpelstiltskin, you saved me."


	17. To Say Goodbye

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing all you wonderfully, awesome peeps! :3_

**~8~8~**

The Dark One pulled his True Love close to his radiating warmth, as they stood in his filthy prison sty of yore that had once kept him incarcerated. His wiry fingers clenched his loves soft flesh desperately as though she would transform into wisps of incensed smoke trailing along the musty currents and be no more.

After the deal he had struck, she might as well have been nothing more than a conjuration of the mind. That would have made the pain less agonizingly brutal at least.

Burying his face into her thick dark amber mane, he breathed her scent deeply determined it would be the last he remembered while festering in the fetid cage meant to be his eternal prison.

Oh to have her in his encompassing embrace for the last time!

He would miss her every moment that flitted in the passage of time bereft of that wondrous smile the played upon her face, or those dark sapphire eyes like beacons shining upon his dark soul. BUt her laugh, that was what he would miss as the days streched on into infinity and the darkness only reverberated his sighs of longing.

The hot mist of tears crowded his whiskey brown eyes, but he blinked them back determinedly as he braced himself for the coming revelation. She could not see him cry. After so much they had gone through he had to be the strong one to soothe the unfairness of it all.

"Belle." The magical beast's voice tore out in a rasped whisper as his throat gripped in sorrow of what was to come.

Agonizingly pushing her at arms length from his embrace a tight, melancholic smile drew half heartedly upon his scruffy features. A calloused hand brushed a few of her salty tears away with a poisonous sting of knowledge he was simply making way for more to brook down her flawless, dirt streaked cheeks.

"Listen Belle, you're free to go. No one will stop you from going back into town." He assured her tenderly. Dabbing his dry lips briefly with his tongue the fiend lugubriously forced himself to stay resolute in what horrid words he had to relate.

She clasped one of his hand with both her own, her azure depths glimmering in the torch light with unabashed delight at the revelation of freedom. "Thank you for coming to my rescue, Rum. I…I don't know what's gotten into Emma, but knowing that we're together again makes it seem so trivial. We'll go home and figure all of this-"

"Belle." He echoed her name in a dry tenderness that made terror shoot up her spine. She had heard the strained timbre in his voice only once before; when he had banished her away from the Dark Castle and from his heart.

Those years ago his face had been a mask of coldness and uncaring, his eyes voided ink blots that glared murder at her, but the tone of his voice…that he could not mask. The regret, sorrow, and pain all had laced the sound of his voice as he told her cruelly to begone from the home she had grown to love.

The smile faded from her lips like a once blooming rose now wilted and drooping and dead. Just looking into his warm maple eyes as she had done those long eons ago, she knew with some morbid instinct he was steeling himself for some misery to be thrust into her heart.

He swallowed hard, the shimmering tears welling in his eyes barely kept in check as he shook his head slowly. "I…I…Belle, I can not go back with you."

"What." She whispered in dire incomprehension as though it could have been some sort of mistake and she had simply misheard. Her intense cobalt orbs searched his own for some mistake or deception. Surely that's what it must have been; the encroaching walls, distorting his words. Or madness, truly unfathomable madness, on her part at the injustice he had so uttered.

A sound like the whimper of a wounded beast muttered painfully from his mouth. "You were falling into dark insanity; there was no choice. I struck a bargain with the sheriff; my imprisonment for your freedom."

"Y-you took my place?" She queried in astonished epiphany, her eyes wide with shock. Abruptly the shaken beauty tossed her head in sheer defiance. Tears dammed in her chalcedony orbs as she curled her finger about the fine fibers of his suit; hanging on to him for dear life. "No, no, no, no! You can't, please Rum, call it off, don't do this!" She wailed feebly into his chest, begging him to withdraw.

At least with her in madness she could have delusion of being with him. Insanity was preferred to what torment he had spoken!

His bottom lip quivered tremulously, but he stood firm and resolute in a stoic air. "I can't, Belle. The deal is struck. A deal I shall not break no matter the cost." To do so could result in disaster on a catstrophic magnintude. No, there was no backing out now.

Belle felt at a loss at the hopelessness of it all. Everywhere around her it seemed as though the world was collapsing in on itself, and her heart was being twisted and twisted by cruel razor claws that adored wringing out what she once loved and shattering it. Life gave her a little happiness then ripped it away once she dared dream and hope.

All her life people and the cruel hand of fate itself had separated her from what she loved, and now it was happening again.

"It's not fair!" Blurted the lovely beauty mournfully. Hot, scalding tears burst in a torrent down cleared paths on her dirt lined face as she sobbed like she hadn't since she was a little girl. She buried her face deep into his dark suit jacket, her tears dampening the fibers and her voice slightly muffled in her wails of anguish. "The curse was broken; we were supposed to get our happy ending!" Her voice lowered to a defeated whisper, her shoulders drooping in saddened surrender that the gloom and darkness of the foul prison seemed to intensify ten-fold. "We were supposed to be happy."

To be happy; was that so much to ask? She didn't want diamonds or silks or gold or fame. All she desired was to wake up beside him and share his life. A paltry desire that the entire universe itself seemed to be averse to.

No matter what fate befell them, she had always leaned on the hope that they would be together in every trial and tribulation, and thus happy, while they trailed down the perils of their existence. Now, they wouldn't even be allowed that comfort. Oh what deities had they offended for good fortune to be shunned them at every turn!

She wanted to scream and weep and wail and punch her fists to the heavens at the injustice of it all, but hugged his lanky body closer still, wanting to keep him in her embrace as much as he did she.

"Hush, Belle-of-mine, it's alright." He soothed gently and stroked her dark russet tresses as he let her cries shudder against him. Every tear was an arrow piercing his heart, for no magic and no force upon the earth or the last could injure him like her tears of morose and pain.

Strong, he urged himself; he had to be strong for her.

"It won't be forever, beloved." The Dark One assured her, hoping his voice sounded as convinced as he wished it to. He nuzzled against her ear, his voice a faint whisper. "We'll see each other again; never you feared."

At least the last bit might have a kernel of truth in it, the magical fiend guessed inwardly. Perhaps his captors would not be too cold hearted and callous in keeping them apart. There was always a small chance they'd allow them to meet on the odd occasion so they could share a brief smile or a faint touch. Even a beast had to evoke some kind of pity bereft of his true love.

Surely they would not deny him a rare rendezvous with his one and only, even if only for a few precious moments that would leave him hungering for more. They had to know love did have a way of pulling people together of course no matter what circumstances befell them.

Belle snuffled, pressing her forehead atop the flesh of his dully throbbing heart. Her azure eyes screwed shut trying to banish the tears. "This is my fault! If only I had listened to you and just remained in your home they would not throw you in a filthy cage like some sort of dangerous animal!"

"No, beloved none of this falls on your head." He hugged her in a comforting vice. "None."

Silence reigned between them in the squalid, dank dungeon that hampered the dark magic streaming through his blood, negating its vast powers. Some where in the maze of dark tunnels a rivulet of water dripped into a shallow pool causing an echoing of plopping liquid resounding about like the weeping of their hearts.

She felt so small in his grasp, such a fragile, thing like a precious treasure that would shatter into a thousands shards if mishandled.

He seemed so strong and stalwart, like a blazing beacon keeping her on course and in league with her sanity.

"There is one thing I need you to accomplish for me while I am…indisposed." A choked quiver strained his timbre. His dark chestnut eyes flashed with pleading. "Please…please continue the search to find my son, Baelfire. All my information is in the study at my home. There are enough funds to last you several lifetimes for every need and want you desire."

He could not leave her at the mercy of the vengeful town's folk with nothing to her name. Everything down to the last dime was hers to use as she saw fit for her comfort and pleasure.

Oh but money was drivel to her! A waste! Useless scraps of garbage not fit to clean gum off a boot! All she wanted, all she desired was him, and now even that one wish had been denied her. Life was truly a cruel mistress.

Pushing back the fierce onslaught of tears fighting to be shed, Belle sniffed and nodded determinedly taking some of his courage as her own. "I promise Rum, I will do all in my power to locate your son."

"And you…you will take care of him?" He questioned timidly as though it was pushing a limit of her oath. There was no right for him to ask so much of her, but to know that his son was with some one he loved and trusted would banish all worry from his thoughts while he rotted in such a foul prison. If Belle took care of his Bae, then that was part of a dream come true, even though he wouldn't be around to see it.

A weak, paltry smile managed to break through the miasma of sorrow. "I'll treat him as my own." She swore to him like a bridal vow.

"Belle." A gruff voice warily coughed.

The pair turned simultaneously to the bars to see Grumpy standing at the spiked grate. He shrugged apologetically, his dark eyes looking everywhere, but to them as though he had stumbled upon some tender moment of secret lovers.

He rubbed the back of his sweaty neck awkwardly with his thick hand. "Look…I am sorry, but Emma asked me to ya know get ya back into town."

Rum sighed and turned back to his love. "Safe passage as agreed, beloved." Knocking a rebellious ringlet of her dark chestnut hair back, now sopped with the wet of tears, he allowed a gentle feather of a kiss upon her forehead. "Now go home, get cleaned up, and find some rest. I'll be fine."

"Oh no, no." She began to protested, but he held a finger tip to her lush lips silencing her pleas.

It was time, they both knew, nothing could change that fact.

"Do the brave thing." He recited warmly and chuckled faintly to bring a little spark of joy into the swamped mire wallowing in her heart. "And bravery will follow."

A gasp ripped from her throat as the tears sparkled afresh in her cobalt depths. "Rum…"

"Belle-of-mine." He whispered in a loving sigh; his throat tight with a lump of emotion.

Both wanted to say those three words that encompassed them, but it would have been too arduous, to difficult to leave it at that when one had to walk away.

The beauty took one step back and then another and another until they were no longer in arms reach. Numb and heart broken, the Dark One watched her trail after the former dwarf; her shoulders heaved in quiet sobs.

Only then when he knew he was truly alone did the tears finally burst through. A pain ridden howl erupted from his lips as he sunk down to the rock in a heap of torrential sorrow. Where Belle went so too went his heart, and, he supposed, that would simply have to suffice for the rest of his days in lieu of not giving her every part of him he possessed.

The gush of heart ache and mourning poured in a deluge from his soul and thundered about the cavern and its threatening spiked barricade until it seemed the cries of pain would be eternally echoed throughout the mines on the fringe of Storybrooke.

~8~8~

"Finally, I see the traitors gone." A cold hard voice rang in grim approval about the cage.

Rumpelstiltskin stiffened at the voice. Hot, blazing rage took the place of tears and hurt misery was traded with boiling anger that roiled under his skin.

How long had he been in the cage of broken dreams and sorrow, he didn't know. Had it been merely a few moments? An hour? A month? Time had no meaning in such a place. It was meant to cage an infinite being, meaning the mere thought of time was ludicrous and useless.

His head swiveled slightly to her, a sneer pulled back upon his lips, like the feral beast of old. "She's not a traitor. I won't have you defame her name, simply because you're wallowing in a mire of grief and stupidity."

"I'm the one wallowing?" Emma perched a brow incredulously and jerked her head to the dampness soaking in his already crumpeled suit. "You could do a backstroke in that pool of tears you've got in there."

"What did you come down her for?" He growled abruptly, leaping to his feet. His dark russet orbs held a maniacal glint, there seemed to be something so beastly about him behind the fang like bars that the curse breaker involuntarily took a step away from the steel grate that held back the monster within.

While he tenderly had rebuilt Belle's sanity, she to had reforged his humanity and without her, his rabid nature was slowly begining to creep forward from the recess' of his aincient mind.

His dexterous fingers curled in a vice over the rusted holdings, not caring in the least if he managed to stab himself on one of the sharp apexes. Spittle flecked his lips. "Did you come to stare at the beast!"

Why couldn't she just be happy she had something to show to her people and leave him be for the rest of his miserable long life; pretending he didn't exists like her father and mother had always done.

If the indomitable Emma was fazed it didn't as much as flinch upon her face. "I came to see if she was finally gone; didn't want her finding the map with 'Master Plan' written in bold laying around."

"You're a pathetic liar, Dearie." He snorted as he slid back down to a corner of the cell far to heart sore to do much of anything else. Tilting his head back to the coolness of the stone, a sigh heaved from his dry throat. "You know perfectly well you sent that dwarf, Grumpy, down here to drive her back. So what did you really come for, hmm? To taunt me finally for managing to bring me so low?"

For the first time, something akin to surprise and confusion flickered upon the curse breakers determined, melancholic features. Her brow knit furtively as she felt the sinking feeling in her gut, just as it had welled in her that night from the screams and images of the bloody carnage, pooling inside.

She blinked in incomprehension, shaking her head mildly. "Drive her back? Gold, I didn't send anyone down here…"

~8~8~

Grumpy cursed dourly as his old pickup hit another pot hole in the rutted dirt road while he headed back into the sleepy back woods town of Storybrooke. A milky veil of fog hovered inches over the dusty road making the going nearly impossible in its shrouded white mists curling and slithering over the deadened earth.

The headlights flickered eerie shafts of brightness to the already melancholic fog that mirrored the former dwarf's tumultuous emotions bickering inside his short frame.

It wasn't supposed to have gone like this, he sobbed inwardly. People weren't to have been killed, nobody was to have been hurt to a major scale; she had given her word.

Regina's conquest was to have been quick, absolute, and painless. She had promised him of that fact when he secretly came to supplicate for answers about what would happen if the curse was broken fully of its dastardly bindings.

A laugh barked from her crimson painted lips as she related what would occur. Everything would go back to the way it was, the laws of their world would still apply as much as they did when they had left. Meaning him and Nova still wouldn't be able to be together. He would go back to being a mine grubbing dwarf toiling in the darkness and she a lovely fairy meant to soar above the curdled clouds and bring happiness to the mortals below.

Lost between the path right and his own desires to forever be together with his True Love intersecting and veering apart, the cunning royals smooth words and an oath filled promises had coaxed him to see a different path - one of betrayal.

What did everyone else matter when he could have happiness with the clumsy, tiny, precious flower of a woman who loved him more than her fairy wings and he more than all the dwarf mines in the realms?

She had promised him riches and spoils in this world if he would only serve her by dropping a few pieces of vital information here and there so that she knew how to plan accordingly to her nemesis' plots. With a few dictation of her pen the vile queen had obtained for him a huge yacht he could sail the world round along with his True Love. They could explore, they would be human, and since she wasn't truly a nun, they could be together with no stipulation or barrier to some order.

Her glossed ruby mouth swore the conquering would be swift, and merciful, after all what good was ruling a kingdom with no one to rule. She even promised not to slay any of his fellows, or Snow White and Charming.

Darkness whispered into his ears of her treachery, but she had been so convincing in assuring him no one would lose their lives and now…

The stocky dwarf jolted in the front seat as he hit another deep dip in the snaking road. The bump made the truck nearly leap up, and in doing so revealing the drugged figure of Belle under a blue tarp in the bed of the beat up truck.

Swiveling his head back to her limp form, the dwarf mouthed a mournful apology for forgiveness. She had once helped him follow his heart to his True Love and this was how he repaired her for that night in the stuffy tavern; handing her over to Regina like some stolen piece of paraphernalia.

As the old, rusted pick up rumbled down the meandering path, the former dwarf couldn't help but think the sad eyes of those that had died were behind the towering trees watching him sink further into the morass he had selfishly flung himself into.

~8~8~

Regina awoke abruptly to frantic pounding upon her door front door echoing dully through out her exquisite home. The digital alarm clock on her night stand blinked a ghastly 2:34 AM blurred amidst her smeared, groggy vision.

Rubbing her jasper eyes and stifling a yawn, the queen slid from the bed and slipped on a blue robe and matching slipper all in one flawless motion holding testament too much experience in being prepared for rude interruptions in the middle of the night.

In any other time Henry would have heard the racket, she knew quite well and might have been spying about for more information, while she scampered down the darkened hall, but the boy had heavy magic sprinkled over him for a deep slumber.

Magic illuminated her delicate hand as she flourished her painted fingers through the night air, banishing the wards and sigils protecting her home. Who ever it was had better have had a good excuse or there was going to be a puddle of vicious, black steaming goop strewn about the lawn when dawn arose.

Opening the door, she was already ready to fiercely demand an explanation of being disturbed. Instead, the wicked ruler screamed in abject terror, taken aback as an unconscious Belle was all but tossed in her direction.

The evil monarch stumbled and staggered back a few steps under the unexpected dead weight of the brave beauty thinking it was possibly a dead body. When she saw the woman was merely drugged, she forced her rapidly thudding heart to calms its raging tempo racing away in her chest. Dark power slithered from her palm, enwrapping the russet haired woman and teleporting her to one of the many empty room culminating on the second floor. Her bright turquoise eyes blazed in fear and offence at such an outrage, only to be met by a red eyed, weeping dwarf.

"I'm done!" Leroy yowled in grief his hand swiping through the air. Tears dampened his thick, coarse beard the very end of his follicles dripping with the liquid. "I want out! You said no one would die!"

The vile sorceress was momentarily taken aback at his dire fervency before her wrath and cunning came to the forefront. "You idiot! I didn't tell you to bring her here!"

That fool of a dwarf was upposed to have taken her to the bunker right at the edge of town! With Rumpel out of the say, she would have easily imprisoned the beauty back in a cell of her own. Now she was passed out in an upstairs bedroom sleeping off a heavy dose of sleeping gas that reeked off her body!

"I don't care. I am through working for you!" He shrieked manically, careless of who heard the clamor echoing in the dead of the misty autumn night. The cat would soon be out of the bag anyway in the rebel camp, and no one in town would dare hint at the words echoing through out the street.

He pointed a stubby finger her accusingly. "You promised it wouldn't last this long; that we would be living are normal lives weeks ago. I should have never listened to you." He seethed his black eyes like dark embers pulsing in twin pools against his face. "I am done working for you." He snarled viscously and turned his back away.

"No you aren't." The sordid monarch retorted calmly as the dwarf turned around to stomp back to his beat up truck. Folding her arms in front of her she lazily leaned again her door, watching his every move. "You are in far too deep now. People have died, as you said, and you framed and kidnapped the lady fair of Rumpelstiltskin."

She scolded him in a mock tsk of dissapointment. "There is no going back now; you can not undo what has been done." The vile sorceress perched a brow inquisitively. "You think you can just quit and go back or pretend like you never worked as my spy? Blood has been spilt that cannot be put back into bodies. Skulls cannot be patched, and flesh cannot be stitched back to make them breath again. Those fresh graves are all on your head. You can't be out; you are in this with me whether you want to be or not."

Even though he didn't want to, the former dwarf sorrowfully halted in his track as though a hand had rooted him to the spot. A lump wobbled precariously in his throat as her words crept into his heart like some malignant disease festering upon his soul.

He was in too deep, that much was true. A part of him cursed himself darkly for ever considering conspiring with her majesty and bringing so much strife down upon the rebellion.

What would Nova think when the news reached her? What would his brethren think? What would the rebels he had sold out for his own happiness and comfort think?

Seeing his hesitation, a pink smirk haughtily wormed upon her face. They both knew he was trapped with no where to run, but back to the woman he had struck a deal to infiltrate his friends. She chuckled as she gazed up his pain and resignation flowing through his body akin to poison. "Now, seeing as you have probably inadvertently tipped off Emma and her murderous band by your change of heart, I will simply have to find another use for you."

She wouldn't find anything relative for him to pursue of course. Whatever advantage he had offered was now gone thanks to his pathetic inkling of a conscious, leaving him nearly useless, but her troublesome pawn could have his advantage before she destroyed him in the long run.

The dark witch was never one to throw out any possibility until she was assured of success of course.

He should have cursed at her right then and there, Leroy knew in what part of him that was still a proud dwarf ruled by no human. The old Grumpy would have protested, snarled in sheer defiance, offered her a not so polite hand gesture, and kept on walking right out of town to hell with what consequences may come.

Instead, he turned back to her controlling gaze and nodded forlornly in acceptance to her words so ingeniously spoken. She had him, he knew, and she had Belle.


	18. Captured and Helpless

_A/N: Hey all thanks for taking the time to read and review! So, I have been busy lately with class and papers due, and all that good stuff, plus my interwebs have been acting screwy lately. I wanted to put this chapter up, just in case I might not be able to get to any computer soon, so I'm not sure if its any good D: Anywho, thanks everyone_

**~8~8~**

"How could I have been so stupid!" Emma raged vehemently. Punching a tight fist into her free hand, the curse breaker stamped back and forth in an angery, thoughtful pace her mind whirling with the new revelations that had so stunned the rebels.

Grumpy a traitor, it was almost impossible to believe, and yet the evidence stared them down in the face, not to be denied or refuted.

The small mine tunnel that held the dangerous Rumpelstiltskin glittered with the light of old fashioned lanterns, torches and flashlights shining their luminance into the heavy blackness that seemed thick with despondency. For its comparatively cramped size, measured beside the other cavernous shafts, the vestibule was filled with those closest to the surly, yet lovable Leroy.

Snow and James stood side by side, holding one another's hands for support in the devastating news of the friend who'd been so close and had even offered a fleeing Snow, with a hefty bounty of her head, shelter. He was a voice of reason who kept her level headed and calm when the whole world came battering at her from all sides.

The remaining six dwarves scratched their heads and seemed perplexed by the betrayal as though it was an impossibility to think of a fellow dwarf an infiltrator. Dwarves were loyal, never had it been heard of another dwarf backstabbing his brothers or allies. The hearty, stocky men where known to even stay with friends in mine collapses though they sometimes died themselves.

Nova, however, was in the worse shape of them all.

Shadows from the guttering torches danced across her soft uncomprehending, insipid features holding testament to the frozen shock that held her enthralled. She looked older, older than them all her face sunken and sallow with grief and shame as though the cruel claws of heartbreak where pulling at her flesh to get to the bone beneath.

To anyone who came upon her, it would have seemed like some sort of incurable illness had befallen her putting the nun into a dire state of phthisis. Grumpy, her True Love was the one who had betrayed them and handed over their vital information to the cruel witch. That fact alone seemed enough to kill her.

No one who had heard the news had believed it a first. Rousing denial and defense had arisen from the rebels who'd always carried a peculiar soft spot for the surly soul.

Even as a drunkard, and a disgruntled one at that, townspeople had always gazed upon him with a touch of friendlessness and sympathy. Graham had never pressed charges on him, only hauled him off to his usual cell, and no one ever filed lawsuit for one of his inebriated escapades.

Grumpy, as his namesake detailed, had never been a pleasant man, but always there to help when it was desperately needed.

Bravely Snow was the first to take a step forward and voice a defense in the stunned group. "Emma, we don't know what possessed him to do such a thing." She stammered slightly, trying to dredge up an excuse. "He…he could have been mind controlled, or Regina could have threatened Astrid, or he could very well be a double spy…or…"

"It's none of that, Dearie." Mr. Gold, low voice echoed knowingly from behind the jagged fang bars of his cell.

He laid with his back against the slimy, coarse, uneven rock, staring at the other wall desolately, his brown eyes, misty, had a faraway glazed gaze going back to a better time, more than likely spent with his true love.

Emma placed her hands on her hips stomping to the cell. "Oh? And you now this how exactly?" She interrogated, a brow perched as she queried him for what little information he possessed.

While part of the fair heard sheriff desired to let the Dark One out, seeing that Belle was not the traitor she had once so grievously assumed, there was also a part of her that whispered that to be foolish thought to toss caution to the wind.

When it came to Belle the magical monster was often rash and impetuous. That much was obvious when he had forged the bargain to be in the prison in the first place! One moment back with magic in his control, and she had no doubt he'd be off to turn the homely town of Storybrooke upside down and inside out or worse.

The manically fiend snorted in annoyance, his dirty brown tresses shaking faintly. "Your parents know my legend, Miss Swann. I make deals." He leaned a trifle closer to the bars, his mouth accenting every word in distinct inflection. "I know how people _think_. The grouchy dwarf wasn't mind controlled, nor was he inclined to spy for her majesty over some threat to his lady." He fluttered his fingers through the air ruefully. "No, you see, she probably seduced him with riches and a life of ease and comfort as a human where everything, or so he believed, would be right."

"That's a lie!" The normally timid and clumsy Nova shrieked abruptly, making the rebels flinch at the unexpected sound.

Life flared inside her tiny body, more vibrant than her fairy wings of old. Leaping to her feet she briskly scuttled her way to the dungeon, her blue eyes glimmering with tears. "Dreamy would never do that! Never!"

Gold grinned ruthlessly, the smile something completely barbaric and feral and cruel. "Yes, because he would so desire to go back to that old life living in a hovel with six more of his filthy kind, an outlawed princess, and away from the one he truly loves." A mirthless chuckle fell from his lips, though his eyes glinted dangerously. "And furthermore, I never lie."

"Why you filthy beast if I had some fairy dust I would…I would…" Astrid grew red in heated anger, her cheeks huffing and puffing in insufferable indignation and not being able to come up with a few choice words for the cold Rumpelstiltskin. She slammed her fist against the rusted bars, the scalding tears falling freely. He was right and she knew it deep in her spirit and in truth that hurt more than the revelation itself. "Even with a betrayal he's more a man and a human than you will ever be you horrible animal!"

"Enough!" Emma commanded willfully as she slipped between Nova and the bars to the grinning Rumpel's cell. She glowered at the soft spoken nun, trying to get her to calm. "Look throwing a few names at him won't let us get to the bottomed of this." Her head swiveled back to him. "And you taunting us, won't help get Belle back either."

At that the Dark One stiffened as though he had been stabbed in the gut with a poisoned blade. Regina had Belle, oh how that made his blood boil and bring hot bile to brine the very marrow in his bones!

The arrogant harpy had to know that they now suspected Grumpy as their traitor. That being said, she'd be scrambling to do something with Belle as a sort of insurance policy in the event Emma was stupid enough to let him go.

The repugnant sorceress hadn't need to worry on that score though, the Dark One spat inwardly. Once he had learned of the treachery, he had ranted and screamed like a madman to be released all to no avail. One did not let a rabid beast back on the prowl of course.

But oh nothing Regina could work would quell his wrath if she had harmed one hair on his loves head. One bruise, one gash, one tear from his beautiful Belle, and Regina's screams would reverberate all across Storybrooke when he found escape. She would beg for the sweet release of utter demise before he got through with her is she did anything to his precious love.

The Dark One gritted his teeth at the abject frustration of being housed in the cage with no way to track down his beloved. "Well what do you suppose we do, _oh ever wise leader_?" He mocked in a snarl.

"You, nothing." Emma stated in an exhale as she turned to him fully.

His brow wrinkled in the first embers of rage conflagrating inside him. "Nothing." Whispered the magical beast in a disbelieving, timbre. In one bound he leapt up, quicker that a hearts beat, standing at the cell bars. His wiry fingers shot out of one of the slits, grabbing the surprised curse breakers red leather jacket in a vice.

"Nothing?" His voice grew louder in a seething hiss as he pulled her against rusted iron bars; the only thing separating them. Pernicious fury glinted like steel in his dark brown orbs, his lips curled back in a snarl. "My Belle is out there possibly in the queen clutches and you will keep me in here so I can do nothing; leaving me bereft of any options!"

The flaxen haired sheriff didn't as much as blink. "Consider it payback for taking the bottle when we needed it for Henry." She retorted in infuriating calmness. No, she hadn't forgotten about that misery which still haunted her nightmares. "Let's see how you feel when you stand helpless to aid the one you love."

Both glared daggers at the other for long minutes, the tension palpable in the dank, musty air. Finally, Gold unfurled his grip; slackening as he backed away. There was nothing for it, he knew as he slipped down to the cold stone slab that had served as a place to rest. She would not release him back upon the world, for more than just her petty revenge. He was a danger to them all in this panicked state.

Now, looking back at the rebels as they chatted in low tones, all he could do was sit back and pray to whatever deity deemed to hear his desperate entreaty that Belle would be safe wherever she was.

~8~8~

Belle awoke with a head ache for the ages bashing relentlessly inside her skull. Blood crashed through her ears, giving her a groggy out of body feel that made every breath laborious.

What had occurred? Where was she?

Her lovely features scrunched painfully as she dared squint her eyes open to view her surroundings. Even though she was on a soft bed, just by the sheer heavy press of darkness surrounding her, she knew she wasn't in the off-pink home of her true love.

Rumpelstiltskin dark power had a feel where the magic's scudded upon her creamy skin like cobwebs brushing every so faintly over her flesh, but this…this felt like a malignant disease choking her.

The air felt humid with it, like the atmosphere of a noxious, foul swamp in the peak of summer; making it difficult just to draw a steady breath.

Light agonizingly burst into her vision, as she pried open her cobalt orbs. Immediately she clamped them shut, her hands grabbing at tuffs of dark brown hair as pain screamed through out her skull.

The poignant throbbing was akin to dwarves hammering away at her mind and using every heavy tool at their disposal to do it.

Dwarves. The abrupt thought brought a single wavering line of clarity to her head shining out above the morass of pain. Grumpy, she remembered the normally surly dwarf from last night had been tasked to take her home.

She recalled him leading up through the dank, snaking, mines and walking towards a beat up red truck. The next thing she recalled he had stopped to lace up his boot, and she walked on ahead to jump in the passenger seat. Her eyes had been too full of tears to see him clearly racing up to her from behind, only a shadow of a figure,...and then…then all went black and she was here in some foul miasma of corruption.

Had he been Regina's pawn of mischance all along? In many ways, the numbers added up. He ran in the diner with the news of Ashley's kidnapping, had had tipped them off of what he over heard Regina's goons discussing. He was one of their most trusted allies, a loyal dwarf through and through. No wonder no one would have suspected him.

Suddenly, footsteps warily thudded in her ears, making the tormented beauty throw her pondering to the wind and listen out for any clues to help dictated where she had ended up.

The dull march of shoes where light, not heavy like a grown man or woman, and they skittered towards the door curiously more than warily.

"Henry, get away from there!" A sharp voice snapped out of the rank morass of dark magic.

High heeled stilettos rapped briskly against the wood floor, in an angry pace that sent icy shivers crawling up Belle's spine and making heart back flip with fright.

The voice made the lovely beauty's throat go dry in terror, and her stomach sink in bottomless pit of horror. She would know that voice anywhere for as long as she lived.

It was the voice who laughed at her pleas for mercy as it tormented her with coils of dark magic assailing her thin body. It was the voice that belonged to the witch who would sometimes put her mystical mirror in from of her cell, just so she could see her love fall further into darkness.

Regina, the witch who had ruined what good she had with Rumpelstiltskin had crushed it into dust and blood.

"W-what's behind the door?" A small voice inquired timidly, but with a staunch boyish braveness.

That had to be the one called Henry, Belle assumed as she barely dared breath to soak up the altercation outside her prison.

There was a little scuffling as though, the evil monarch had grabbed the young child by the wrist and was begging to tug him away. "A crazy woman, Henry." She explained primly as their voices grew fainter. "Don't go by that door again, she's very dangerous."

"Like my real mom?" The youngling questioned dryly, though Belle knew by the tone it was sarcasm.

Emma! That's who the child's mother was! Now hearing the boy speak such, she recalled conversations of a child in Regina's grasp that Emma wanted back. As far as Rum had told her, he had garnered the child for her, when the sheriff had given him up for adoption.

The clicking of the high heeled shoes stopped immediately. "She's not your mother. She's a criminal, Henry." There was a pause, where Belle could imagine the evil monarch trying to tame her emotions of wrath even at the allusion of Emma Swann. Her voice suddenly became a tad bit chipper to cover up the sneer of disgust. "Now, be a good boy and go downstairs and eat your waffles then go outside and play, but stay in the yard."

At that, there was a pounding of shoes thumping down a set of stairs, but to her horror, no click of heels accompanied the sound. On the contrary there wasn't another sound at all.

"I assume you caught all of that conversation, Miss French." Regina's voice echoed vilely around the room. One could almost here the cruel smirk glazed upon her features in her mocking, superior timbre.

Despite the head ache and the pain stabbing behind her cerulean orbs, the beauty's eyes shot open to see Regina leaning back casually in a chair in a corner by the door. She donned a navy blue pin stripe suit, her raven hair was not long as it had been in the old world, but cut short to about past her ears.

There were so many changes about her from the cruel woman who had tortured her in the rock cell deep beneath her citadel, and yet so very much the same. Taint, she knew well, was a hard thing to scrub off no matter what world the evil monarch dwelled.

Chuckling evilly, the sordid sorceress crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing victoriously to look at the trapped Belle lying in a heap on the guest room bed. "It's been a long time, Belle." Regina commented easily almost to taunt the petrified woman.

The lovely beauty merely whimpered pathetically in reply. A large, cruel grin slithered upon the harpy scarlet glossed mouth. She did so enjoy seeing people completely cowed and nearly shaking in fear at her presence.

The dark queen waved her hand dismissingly. "Still recalling the time in my dungeons I see."

"Please…don't…" The words burst beseechingly from Belle tremulously shaking lips.

A bark of laughter erupted from Regina's throat. "Calm yourself, I have no time to be torturing you." On an after thought she added wickedly. "Today that is."

The frightened beauty gulped. "What do you want?"

"What I want? Oh Belle I already have what I want." The vile harpy perched a coal black pencil thin brow victoriously extenuating her pallid flesh as a cruel smirk weaseled upon her scarlet smeared mouth.

She rose slowly, gliding over to the bed as though her feet nary touched the ground. Abruptly she grabbed Belle's chin, her painted nails digging ruthlessly into her porcelain flesh as she leaned down to stare at the beauty eye to eye. "You see I have you in a way than you can not possibly comprehend. A way that you can never escape from me now; a way that I win against Rumpelstiltskin, just in case he is released…"

~8~8~

What little noon sun broke through the thick press of ashen gray clouds swirling above the accursed town of Storybrooke slanted through the daintily gilt second floor guestroom of the Madame Mayors dwelling.

Belle lay upon the firm mattress, silently weeping on what she had lost. She knew what the queen had taken from her, and the emptiness it left wallowing in her frail form. How she desired to be away from the sinister home and its evil ruler and be back in the arms of her Rum, even in the prison under the mines felt better than this lot she had been sold into by the traitorous dwarf.

Was her entire life to be spent the prisoners of others? Always taking her away from the ones she loved the most?

Quite suddenly something scuffled by the locked door. Turning on her other side to face the locked portal, her brown wrinkled in thin lines of curiosity at the noise. She stared intently at a bit of shadow moving under the light of the door, and then pausing a bit off center.

There was a minor scuffle then, to the melancholic beauty's surprise, someone shoved something under the door.

Curiosity had always been Belle's poison and this time, even in the dire circumstances that touted sorrow upon her back, she couldn't resist wondering what offering had been graciously given to her, by the figure on the other side of the barricade.

Slipping quietly off the mattress, she moved on shadows feet as she padded ever so silently to the door.

Taking the time to make sure she heard no sound of heels clicking down the wood floor, the beauty knelt down to item that had been pushed to her side of the room.

A napkin lay folded in half, and in its contents rested a waffle with maple syrup drawn in a smiley face as some sort of peace offering.

Even in her mire of misery, the lovely beauty couldn't help but smile at the uplifting gesture that warmed her heart and traded a spark of hope in place of finality and defeat.

"I thought you might be hungry." A tiny male voice whispered warily as though he was anxious of being caught.

Chuckling slightly at the show of bravery and kindness, lovely beauty dug into the cold waffle voraciously. "Thank you." She replied in a muffled, waffle and sticky syrup filled voice. Swallowing the huge chuck, Belle leaned closer to the door till her forehead rested upon the cool, mahogany wood. "Are you little Henry perchance?"

"Yeah!" The boy answered earnestly in a faint hush. "Are you one of Emma's operatives?"

The beauty's face fell at the remembrance of being so callously branded a traitor and thrown into a cell to rot. "I was." Came the dour reply before she forced her mind to veer away from the morose thoughts.

"So…you're a prisoner of war, like me." The ten year old concluded with perhaps a touch of pride in his voice. There was an adventurous, excited tone to his voice that couldn't be masked even if he tried.

Belle had to suppose so, she considered momentarily as she polished off the last of the cold, scrumptios waffle the kind little boy had spared for her. But she was more than that now. Her head tilted downward to her gray shirt flecked with huge dollops of dried blood. Pain clenched her throat, but for the moment she bit back the sting of dark misery to focus.

"Henry." She touched the door with her palm as though she could feel the boy on his shoulder. A thought that sprang into her mind that filled her with bothering, nagging notion. "I overheard your mom…I mean the queen telling you to go outside and play, but I didn't hear you come back inside. How did you get back up here?"

The young boy snorted as though it were simple. "Ah that's easy I sneak in the same way Sheriff Graham used to sneak out up the hall window and down the ivy lattice on the side of the house." His voiced softened regretfully. "But my mom killed the sheriff. She does that to people she that displease her. "

A spark of hope relit in Belle's heart towards the admission of a way out that didn't require use of a body bag or magic. It might be just what she needed to formulate an escape if she could get the cooperation of the young lad behind the door.

"I think I may have a plan to get out of here, Henry." The tactile beauty remarked suddenly, her brilliant mind whirling with all the old war and military and espionage books she had read at the Dark Castle.

Though she couldn't see him, she could tell the boy seemed too brighten as much as her soul did at the revelation. "You do?" He gasped excitedly, before he forced himself to lower his voice.

Belle smiled at his utter enthusiasm, it caught on like an infection disease driving the thoughts of melancholy far into the recess of her mind and planting back hope and courage. "Yes, but it will be tricky and will require excellent teamwork. We will have only one shot at this, so listen carefully…


	19. Freedom

_A/N: Thanks for taking the time to read and review! Hugs for all!_

**~8~8~**

A large covert smile beamed upon Henry Mill's bright, young face as he scaled down the ivy entwined lattice that tapered from the side of the house and down to the grass in his backyard. The green stems and dark, mottled olive hued leaves had covered the interlaced wood work so long it seemed almost to look akin to a small beanstalk leaning against the side of the dwelling to curl upward forever and ever if given a chance.

Henry had no time to ponder over the suspicious realization as he jumped down to the grass in the fenced in yard and ran to the driveway stealthily akin to some master thief of old.

Pride welled nearly to bursting within in his stoic child's heart for finally he was helping do something against the evil queen that had destroyed an entire world's happiness ripped his grandparents love asunder and kept him away from his real mother!

Traipsing down the gravely walk fringed with growing Crepe Myrtle and pale asphodels dipping down upon the lane; the young lad went over the precise instructions Belle had given him. One flaw, even the minutest slip of the tongue, and both knew the vile sorceress would move the beauty to the confines on the county line earlier than expected. Right now they had the element of surprise on their side with their unlikely alliance forged in their dual dispositions against the vile monarch who bound them to her magic's.

Yet as excited as the shaggy brown haired boy was, anxiousness loomed over him like a threatening gray cloud or a deathly specter haunting his every move. So much relied on him playing his part perfectly to make their ruse complete and his mom had an abysmal knack of being able to read the words behind his innocent eyes just as Emma had the power to read lies.

Reaching the ominous cherry red door to his house, the only house he had ever known that had never truly been a home, Henry forced himself to calm with a deep settling breath. All plans started with one step forward, whether it led to victory or ruin was soon to be seen.

"Henry." His mother's voice pierced the air like some harpy's shriek deadly resounding through his ears.

Heat flooded dark and fiery to his cheeks as he took an involuntary step back. The boy could not stifle a jump, his small heart racing frantically like a criminal found in the midst of heist. How had she found out so soon? What magic's had she cast to be able to read his mind all the way on the other side of the house when she was in her library and he in the back yard?

Jerking his hand off the alabaster doorknob as if it was a red hot iron he tried making himself look as normal as possible, his dark brown eyes wide and innocent and open as he dared make them.

Regina's thin heels pumped rapidly against the stone walk akin to some sharp beat of a death dirge. Her pallid features were a mask of fear mingled with concern as she trotted briskly towards her adopted son.

Stopping inches from the pallid child, she loomed over her boy, staring down at him in a scolding demeanor. "I didn't see you in the back yard." She stated dangerously. Her mouth was a hard thin ruby line as she waited for an explanation for his disobedience.

Henry scuffed the welcome mat with a grassy tennis shoe, his head tilted down bashfully and his hand behind his back. "I was going to go in for a snack." All of his being was praying she would see through the well rehearsed deception.

For a long moment in the stream of time, the repugnant monarch glared at her son as though her icy turquoise gaze could peel back layers of his young flesh. Dark steel of mistrust and disapproval flashed in her teal depths, but she nodded acceptingly if not suspiciously. "All right. There are some carrot sticks in the fridge and you can have a soda."

"Okay, thanks mom." Henry replied quickly as he flashed a nervous, childish grin. His small hands lightly trembled as he opened the door and raced inside with all the energy of a ten year old boy, ravenous from play, could possess.

The echo of his foot falls echoed faintly back out the door as Regina, stood prone, glaring critically at the spot her adoptive boy had once stood; her mind whirling with untrustworthiness.

After ten years of rearing the child, she knew the boy absolutely loathed carrots with a fervent passion, which in turn begged the question why he had not even frowned at the mention of his least favorite fare. Murmuring a few low words to a spell, the wicked ruler vanished in a coil of darkness, whilst her mind planned what lay ahead for the rebellion.

A few lights guided his way as Henry padded quietly through the eerily silent house. The intense quiet and morose damper of gloom that seemed to eternally reside in the abode had always made the lad feel uncomfortable. Now that his adoptive mom had her wretched powers back the feeling and grown like some gangrenous infection taking over what little comfort the cold, mausoleum of a home had once obtained.

Pushing the thought away, Henry determined himself to focus on the dangerous task at hand. For all his mothers magic, she could only be in one place at one time, meaning if she was in her library was on the second floor, she wasn't in her study on the first.

The startling black door that led to his mom's office had always held a well placed fear in the heart of young Henry. As soon as he had first come across the curse and who the woman he called mother was, all he could imagine the room as was some elaborate torture chamber filled with all manner of cruel devices instead of books and other adult business stuff that made his eyes swim.

A lump wobbled tremulously in his throat, but he swallowed it down courageously as he tip-toed to the thick mahogany wood. Thankfully it wasn't locked at the door slid open with nary a sound revealing the stylish study of Regina Mills.

Her polished rose wood desk sat in the center like a commanding throne, ordering deference for the person who sat behind it from all who dared enter its sacred sanctuary. Stationary items sat neatly in their own little niches and a few manila files lay scattered on the top as though they had been read over and over in a frustrated manner.

Creeping upon cat's feet, the brave boy shut the door quietly behind him before rapidly turning to his task that would aid in freeing his new found friend.

A key, his mother always kept spare keys in her study, just in case of mischance.

He hadn't actually seen it before, but he knew the way to open a secret compartment on the desk that could very well hold the tarnished keys that went into every important lock in the small hamlet of Storybrooke. No place was safe from the mayor, and that was what would help in freeing Belle.

Racing behind the large desk, the boy fell to his knees and traced the underside of the lacquered wood slowly till his finger tips ran across a small dip. A small, victorious smile bloomed on his face as he clicked the secret button and the side compartment to the desk easily slid open with a bit of jangling thanks to its metal contents housed inside.

"Easy." Henry murmured triumphantly. His eyes intently scanned the rows of neatly placed keys for the one he sought. All the keys in his house were morbidly antique as though his mom had pulled them from ages and ages past.

"Not so, I'm afraid." Regina refuted as she lazily banished the teleportation incantation used to quickly ferry her to her ominous study.

Fear smashed down upon the shaggy haired boy who had been caught red handed pilfering through his mother's supposedly nonexistent key vault. Ice felt like it galloped through his veins as he slowly upturned his bright, chestnut eyes to see his mother glaring down in angered disapproval.

Her glossy scarlet lips where deeply down turned and her arms crossed. A brow was perched slightly in a well known look that related she wanted answers without her having to speak such. One foot tapped in a slow rhythm in tune perfectly with his dully thudding heart.

He licked his lips tremulously and smiled weakly, fighting hard not to meet her gaze. "Um…I was looking for some paper and a pen." Henry lied pathetically, the words barley leaving his mouth before they pattered off from his paltry excuse.

"Really?" Regina sighed, nearly in amusement. "I catch you red handed in my key vault, trying to find the correct one that will unlock that dangerous woman and that's your excuse?"

If he was intent on lying to her then he should have at least made it believable!

A smile abruptly came to the boy's face. It was a cunning, knowing grin that held infinite amount of relief in a job well done. "No, that was the decoy."

As if on cue, the smoke detectors in the kitchen viciously blared sonorously in warning of an emergency. Dark gray smoke was curling from the under the door to the kitchen and tongues of flame bickered hungrily at the edge of the closed portal.

Henry cheered and punched a fist into the air. "Long live the resistance!" He cried excitedly.

"What did you do, Henry?" His mother jerked her head to him, her eyes filled with wrath, that made the cheer shrivel to ash in his throat.

~8~8~

Upstairs, Belle awaited with baited breath to hear the smoke detectors rally the alarm for fire. Her body quivered in thrumming nerves as she all but leapt up with the first sound pealing through the air.

Unlike her Rum, she had never been good and conniving and planning deceits, all she had hoped for was the young lad to set the trap to make good her escape from Regina's hold.

Now, with the faint smell of smoke whisking through the house, Belle began her part of the plan securing her freedom. Grabbing up the chair that rested in the corner, the dark amber haired beauty lunged it at the bay windows in her prison, knowing it was her only chance for escape.

_Crash_!

Glass shattered into a million indiscernible shards that glittering in the scant sunlight as the now broken chair went sailing out and braking into splinters as it hit the ground. For a moment she could have paused to look at her handiwork, but necessity overrode such singular satisfaction.

A grim smile blossomed upon her face as she stepped out of the broken window and began following the lads instructions on how to successfully scale the old Victoria house with out breaking a limb or cracking her skull.

~8~8~

The air around them grew hot with the stench of smoke and charred remnants of something Regina might have said smelled faintly of carrots and cloth. Already she could hear the roar of flame devouring her expensively furnished kitchen and rapidly spreading throughout the home with its gluttonous inferno lapping and licking at the paint and wood and anything else caught in its destructive pathway.

From above, she heard something akin to a window being smashed to pieces; no doubt the cunning Belle making good her escape.

"You can't be in two places at once." Her son echoed quietly, almost prophetically.

He was right, the vile sorceress knew furiously. She could either snatch up Belle who was no doubt already on the ground, or she could save her home and all the important items that it housed.

Citadels could be rebuilt, of course, but magical items she had long stowed away in cubbies and confines strewn about her lavish dwelling could be destroyed of rendered useless if the fire got more out of control.

Seeing as she had something Belle no longer possessed, the choice was an easy one. A growl of cheated frustration rumbled angrily from his lush mouth as she pushed her son towards the door and a clear exit for escape.

"Get out of the house, I'll handle this." She promised through a sneer and perhaps a touch of pride that her magic's could do something good on the rare occasion.

Turning towards the angry flames and heavy dark smoke that now thundered in the kitchen direction, the sordid witch beckoned magic's to bend to her will to quell the flames and the heat that pressed towards her.

Bright orange tongues of fire had already engulfed a side of the house as Henry burst from the dangerous , smoking confines. His breathing came out in small ragged pants as he slowed his pace on the side walk and set down on the curb with his little body heaving violently. Only when he plopped down and leaned back did he realize he was shaking terribly.

The beauty was just dashing from the free of fire, side of the blazing home, sprinting up to the young lad with a wide smile of her face as he finally managed to suck in much needed air.

Blood oozed from a few wounds where sharp shards of glass scraped her and gashed at her hands, but other than that, she seemed happy and joyous to be free from her wretched prison as much as he was glad to be free of his moms clutches. A part of her knew she had to exude that to keep the ten year old off his guard.

"We did it, Belle!" The boy gasped elatedly in the knowledge he had finally been able to help some of his real moms cohorts.

Belle allowed a carefree laugh to escape her lips, as she inched closer to the oblivious Henry. "Indeed we did. I hope the entire house doesn't go up in flames."

"I do." The boy replied, his mood suddenly dour and dark with inner turmoil raking his soul. His sad eyes flicked back to the white colonnaded home that had been all he'd ever known for ten years. "I hated it there."

Her nerves tensed to a thrumming anxiousness as she sighed partially in relief. "Good. That makes this so much easier then."

His brow furrowed curiously. "What do you-" He got no further as Belle grabbed his arm despite protest and hauled him away down the deserted streets of Storybrooke.

~8~8~

"Hey there Mr. Gold…uh no Mr. Rumpelstiltskin, I got some lunch for ya." One of the seven dwarves, Dopey by name, stated in his constantly half aware, oblivious state that exuded a simple happiness and contentment.

Part of his tongue stuck out the left corner of his mouth as he padded carefully down the darkened dungeon; focusing all his meager wit on not spilling his hefty burden.

He wasn't the brightest diamond in the mine, as the old dwarven saying went, but he was just the person far too dense to be coerced by any tempting words of the cunning Rumpelstiltskin. If the Dark One offered him a deal, he wouldn't understand clearly or thoroughly, nor did he have want or desire of anything he did not already possess.

Rum gave a low snort of mirthless amusement, his head only mildly turning to the jagged cage bars that blocked him from his Belle and happiness and life. "Maggots, stale bread, and tepid water all mixed up together, my favorite." He dead panned with a sardonic smirk.

The former dwarf paused right before he reached the bars and looked down to the meal hard. His brow was furrowed intently as though he was trying to see if Mr. Gold's prediction was accurate.

Giving a lazy, slow, smile he shook his head. "I don't think so. Unless maggots and water and bread look like chicken." Quipped the thick headed dwarf in a garrulous laugh that rang sonorously through the mine.

"It was…" Gold began but forwent the words, deciding not to waste his breath on the idiot who wouldn't understand anyway.

Right as the dutiful Dopey was yanking the grate at the bottom of the cell, loud footsteps echoed noisily from the front of the tunnel alerting Mr. Gold, before the dumb dwarf on the other side of the bars, that something was amiss. "Hey Dopey, hurry up, something's going on. Belle's back and she's got the mayors kid!" A fellow dwarf hollered down the small mine and made a beckoning gesture his calloused hand.

At that, the Dark One seemed to come to life from his dire morose like a corpse arisen from a tomb. His chestnut eyes snapped open wide as though lightening had come from the firmament and struck him squarely in the chest and shot through every nerve in his body.

For the first time in hours he shifted from his spot at the back of the cold cell wall and crept tenuously towards the rust barricade.

Belle back and with the mayors boy? For a moment the fiend contemplated if such news could have been the first signs of growing delusion gnawing at the edge of his sanity, but he threw the thought away as the stupid dwarf looked just as dumbfounded as he and raced to the front of the mine, leaving the meal forgotten and spilling on the stone.

"Belle, what are you doing." The magical beast murmured aloud in shock, his mind whirling in thoughts of just what she could be up to.

A sigh rolled from his lips as he rested his head upon the cool bars, and shut his eyes tight. Whatever plan she had formulated, he knew it would be a Belle original.

~8~8~

"So you want to trade my son for the Dark One." Emma repeated through grit teeth that belayed her fury. Her words pierced the cold air, like fire spurting from her mouth as she glowered wrathfully at the lovely young beauty standing at the edge of the encampment with her Henry.

Belle met her gaze with one equally as fierce, her hand tight upon the wary lads shoulder keeping him in place. "Exactly."

"We can't have him set loose again; you know what he can do." The sheriff's cobalt orbs laconically flicked to her son, a hint of desperateness laced in her stoic timbre. There was no hiding or denying she wanted her son with her safe and sound and finally from the craven witch Regina.

"Then I take your son back to Regina, and I know you want him, Emma." The russet haired beauty rebuffed callously.

She hated bargaining for the boy who had initiated her escape, by burning down half his house no less, but Rum was unjustly imprisoned in the deepest mine, caged like a beast and kept from the bright shining world to skitter in the one below. That could not be tolerated, child or not.

The honey blonde haired sheriff and the beauty stared at one another for long moments passing in the flow of time, their eyes interlocked in a fearsome battle brimming within their hearts.

Even the towering trees, bereft of their plumage, seemed to shrink back from their silent battle dominating their minds. Those who wandered out from the mines watched the pair square off breathlessly, wondering who would cave first. The air shifted with the tension, as it hummed betwixt them, and leaves driven by the wind looked as though they were tumbling away from the heated exchange with every chilled gust.

After long minutes had passed away in the trek of time, a defeated sigh bubbled from Emma's scowling lips. She swiped a lock of hair that had broken free from her pony tale and glowered murderously. Her shoulders drooped in defeat but she nodded slowly in accordance. "Alright, you win, we'll get him. And in return I get my son."

"Of course." The beauty exhaled easily as the blonde relinquished the battle.

To fight both Emma Swann and the guilt for spiriting the child away was a hard thing to combat all at once. True, she did desire Rum back with every part of her yearning soul, but to hold a child for ransom, had she finally stooped so low?

"I'm really sorry about this, Henry." The russet haired beauty voiced truthfully as she stood at the edge of the rebel camp, watching the grim sheriff disappear into the silent mines to fetch her true love.

She was thankful they both had thick coats on when they had ran from the burring home, for the air was bitterly cold, foretelling perchance their first taste of snow for the season falling sometime in the night.

The sky was a creamy gray that swirled above them as though looking down in wariness of what was being done and what trade had been forged in the heat of desperate souls.

A kidnapper, that's what she was, Belle knew sorrowfully. Not only had she gotten the boy to help distract has adoptive mother by setting a fire, she had stolen him from her clutches and disappeared into the heart of the forest like some murderous brigand looking for a quick ransom.

Sad eyes turned up to her, and yet they also gleamed with understanding. "It's okay. You have to be the nicest kidnapper I've ever met." His face crinkled in incomprehension and fell back to looking at the black holes of the mine that seemed akin to open maws of corpses. He nibbled at his bottom lip thoughtfully in his own childish way, trying to piece thoughts together. "But, I don't get it. I mean I want to be with my real mom and all, but you won't let me go to her."

"That's because I need you." She related gently, hoping in some way he would understand what was transpiring. "My true love, Mr. Gold as people used to know him, is locked up deep in the belly of the mines. He traded places with me, when your mother thought I was a traitor."

A shiver spiraled up his spine at the sheer mention of the meanest man in town. "You mean…Rumpelstiltskin is your true love?" He queried warily, as though she would snap on him for even daring to mention his true moniker.

"Yes." Replied Belle with a faint nod. "And even though your mother knows I was not the one to cast blame on for the deceits, Gold is a dangerous man. She doesn't want to free him so easily."

The boy looked astounded at the revelations that the always dangerous man, Mr. Gold was her love. "But you're so pretty and nice and he's all…Mr. Gold." Henry wrinkled his nose at the thought and made a disgusted face as he usually did when presented with carrots.

The lovely beauty couldn't suppress a tittering laugh at the child's unabashed reaction most people stifled when they realized who her true love was. "Do you know back in our true world, he had piercing, fathomless black dots for eyes, and glittering gray-gold skin that gleamed and burnished in the sun light."

Henry's eyes were wider than twin, brown moons; with amazement as he listened to her involuntarily weave a tale of her true love whilst they awaited his release. She had always been skilled at the arts of a bard, and in this world was no different.

She related to him the time she had sold herself to the Dark One to save her fathers kingdom, and living as a slave in the Dark Castle, and eventually realizing she had fallen in love with her master and captor.

"So you really, really love him." Henry concluded quietly, his thoughts hidden behind a veil of contemplation.

Belle, nodded as she fought back an urge of longing to simply see her beloved Rumpelstiltskin. How she missed him with every beat of her heart, how she craved to taste him on her skin as a drunkard did another tankard of ale. Her heart beat in tune with his, and without him the rhythm was lost.

Leaves rustled as she scuffed at the forest floor strewn in the carpets of orange and crimson with her boot and nodded vapidly. "With all my heart." She replied holding back the scalding burn of tears.

"Belle!" A voice, his voice sang across the frigid air, like a shaft of sunlight breaking through her leaden gray clouds in her heart.

The Dark One was a little ragged; bit pieces of his dark suit torn on jagged edges of rock. Dirt smeared across his weathered skin, but to Bell he had never looked better.

A wide smile bloomed upon his face as he raced to his Belle. Instinctively, the beauty let Henry go, who ran forthwith to his mother, and wrapped his small arms around her waist as he hugged her.

Gold engulfed his true love in a monolithic hug, pressing her impossibly close to his body and his drumming heart. She had saved him from an eternity in a cage that the world would have forgotten.

"I told you it'd not be forever, Belle, my heart." He whispered lovingly into her ear as she nuzzled him along the side of his cheek, wishing with all her soul she could meet her lips to his own.

The russet haired beauty wanted to reply. She wanted to laugh and sing and cheer to the gray sky above for being back in his arms alive and safe and unharmed. Instead, she held him close, her scalding tears wetting the side of his neck as she gripped him a vice that never wanted to let go.

After what Regina had done to her in the brief time she had been back as her prisoner, heaven above only knew when the time came she would have to let go permanently.


	20. Revelatory

_A/N: Hi all! Thanks so, so much for reading and reviewing! Also, can you believe it! Next Sunday is the start of season 2! *Shameless fan-girl squeal*_

**~8~8~**

The first few ivory, glistening snowflakes of the year were just beginning to tumble down to the cold, sleeping earth as Belle finally released her love from her desperate grip.

A puff of opaque cloudy vapors escaped her trembling pink lips in a loving sigh as the first sparse bits of precipitous snow sprinkled upon his straggly dirty brown tresses and melting into run off. Lost in the enchantment of her immense indigo orbs that always held him enthralled, if he noticed the snow had begun to float softly down, he never showed it upon his face.

How wonderful it felt to have him close, his arms encircling her with the silent promise never to allow her to stand alone facing off against the cold cruel world, even in the blistering cold. Always and forever he would stand beside her, ready to protect her with his life as much as she did he. A bond, stronger than slavery or fealty or friendship tied the binds of their life as one and threaded both their fates into a single cord.

One icy flake landed upon the tip of his nose, making a warm, soft laugh blurt from her lush mouth at the ludicrous sight. She wiped a bit of gritty mine dust from his cheek, her smile loving and amused. "Let's go home before you catch a cold in this weather."

"Whatever for? So you may admonish me for not taking a cloak, Belle-of-mine?" He quipped playfully, yet his timbre was low and full of sultry implications that neither would be cold for very long.

A small grin twitched upon the tip of her her lips as her intense cobalt orbs glimmered happily at finally being able to be free with him again. After so much had occurred in the blur of days past she was glad his quips stills came easily and her smile along with it. "I'll let it slide, beloved." The beauty whispered lovingly in reply.

Dark lilac tinged magic oozed from his fingertips twirling about their bodies to ferry them back into his light pink, painted domicile. The sickly sweet scent of his powers, while once disconcerting those long eons ago when she labored in the Dark Castle, now smelled soothing in a familiar fragrance that calmed her soul.

Once, the dark puissant magic's had made shivering Goosebumps prickle upon her porcelain flesh, but having been so long bereft of anything that reminded her of him, the sinuous strands of corrupted power coiling about their bodies felt welcome and warm like the touch of an old friend.

In truth, she loved the Dark One, in all his gray-gold high pitched giggle glory, just as much as she loved the human form of the man before her. Magical fiend or not, her heart belonged to Rumpelstiltskin in any form.

Anything, she supposed intruigingly, that was formerly wild and feral and dangerous, when tamed and calmed, felt secure and comfortable even with the knowledge there was always an all too real chance for it to bite. But it was her risk, her chance to be close to the beast and open her heart wide with the flagrant, resolute knowing there could be dire repercussions.

"I think those two have got the right idea, kid." Emma stated happily to her son. A smile that hadn't been seen upon her face since the entire war began beamed down elatedly to her boy as she nudged her head to the dark mine.

For all her tough, take no prisoners, shoot first ask questions later, hard as nails exterior, she had deeply missed the boy who had journeyed all the way to busy, dangerous Boston to locate her and set everything into motion.

Henry nodded obediently as he pulled his gray and black jacket tighter over his form and began to follow his tenacious mom and the other rebels into the safe confines of the mines.

For a moment, Belle looked over her loves shoulder to bid her tiny associate in fleeing from the vile witch Regina goodbye, only to pause before the word spurted from the threshold of her lips. A sudden thought abruptly struck her like a shock of inspiration to her mind, opening up a sight that had formerly been blind.

Her azure eyes widened in surprise as she looked to the boy then turned her head back to her true love as though drawing mental lines to some form of puzzle or riddle that had eluded her for centuries.

The misty lavender fog was rolling over them, staining their vision a royal purple hue before preparing to ferry them to his home, but the beauty suddenly disengaged from his arms, steeping out of the flow of magic and back into the cold snowy outskirts of the rebel camp.

At once the malignant powers seeped away, their raw, malignant essence flowing about on the snow swept winds akin to smoke hauled through the atmosphere upon the breeze.

Rum's face was a mix of alarm and surprise as he looked around in alarm for trouble brewing or other foul magic's at play. Dark hues of plum tinged magic flecked and crackled along his dexterous fingers whilst his dark chestnut eyes scanned the deadened forest for those seeking to do him or his love harm.

"Wait, please, just a moment." Belle cried out to mother and son about to dip inside the mines.

The surly blonde grimaced darkly in her direction not fancying to be wasting anymore time with the woman who had held her son hostage or the most powerful sorcerer in all of Storybrooke. She wanted no more dealing with the pair that were neither really here nor there in their loyalties to any fight, but only true to one another.

Crossing her arms, a low growl seeped from her throat. "Make it quick." She cautioned warningly, her dark blue eyes challenging.

Belle tugged at her love's ragged and ripped sleeve, pulling her in the direction of the mines he had just been sacrificially incarcerated in moments before. A distasteful grimace snaked upon coarse features as he willingly let the russet haired beauty drag him to the dark gaping maw of the mine, but not without apprehension or magic still pulsing under his skin.

"It will only take a moment." Belle assured the glowering sheriff with a quick nod. "I just had the oddest thought…" Her words trailed off back to silent, curious pondering.

Emma perched a brow in confusion as the brilliant beauty pulled the Dark One to stand beside Henry so that they were side by side.

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, Belle circled the pair, her eyes scanning them for something she couldn't quite put her finger on. They didn't look quite like one another, and yet there seemed to be some link or relation.

She had felt the same ease she always felt around Rumpelstiltskin with Henry, when every one else filled her with just a hint of wariness and trepidation, even Ruby who was possibly her closest friend. It was just a niggling feeling, and yet it was there nonetheless tugging at the edge of her mind and whispering somthing she couldn't comprehend.

She turned to Emma who was beginning to look as equally as confounded like there was some mystery that they simply couldn't touch down on. "Do they look…I mean a bit similar."

The blonde shook her head akin to coming out of an enchanted trance; her face stern, but laced with doubt. "I guess a little." She admitted with a small up heave of her shoulders. "But it could be because they both have brown hair and brown eyes; that's not wholly uncommon."

Mr. Gold turned his head down to gaze curiously at the young lad fidgeting shyly at being gawked at or discussed about so openly. "Resemblance means very little, Miss Swann." To make his point the inclined his head slightly to her flowing flaxen tresses peeking our from her dark woolen cap now spotted with fronds of snow and melting ice "You have blonde hair while neither of your parents do."

"He's right, color doesn't mean anything." Belle agreed, but her voice was low and musing as she inspected them both for more than mere looks. "Some things are hereditary."

A scoff erupted from the sheriff's thin mouth twisted in a scowl. "You can't seriously think Gold and my son are somehow related." Emma protested in offence to even the allusion of her or her son being part of a family that had any close contact with Mr. Gold.

Belle didn't reply, but nodded slowly. "Henry what are your likes?"

The child scratched his shaggy brown hair ponderously, his brow furrowed in deep, whimsical thought. "Uh video games, hot chocolate, ice-cream, Emma, comics."

"Belle…please." The Dark One sighed heavily with dwindling patience, his shoulders slumping mildly in aggravation toward his indefatigable love. "This is not getting us anywhere, and the snow is coming down harder."

"Just one more question then we can leave." She promised gently. "Henry, what are some of your dislikes?"

The lad made a disgusted face, his eyes squinting as he shook his head. "Ick, carrots, always carrots if I could make them disappear I would."

At that, the clever beauty flickered her eyes with just a hint of victory and endearment to her true love. A ravishing smile stole upon her porcelain flesh as she nodded sagely like some master detective. "There is only one other person I know who hates them more."

Rumpelstiltskin had always loathed carrots. The Dark Castle's larders had held many ingredients, but carrots had never been one of them.

She had once inquired about obtaining some for a stew and he had pulled the same utterly abhorred face young Henry had only moments before. Even now, his lips down turned in surprise and distaste. One would think they put them on par with poisons!

"And you think they are somehow related all because two people just so happen to hate a vegetable and have the same hair and eye color?" Emma queried in a sarcastic snort, and a disbelieving roll of her blue eyes. It was ridiculous, but on an unpleasant afterthought, many things in her life and Storybrooke had been abjectly ridiculous and unbelievable. Heck, her mom was nearly the same age as her and just so happened to be Snow White.

Belle nibbled lightly on her bottom lip thoughtfully, the way she always did when caught in some unexplained curiosity her mind was attempting to solve and put in its proper order. "I know it sounds crazy, but I feel as though they are related some how…"

In truth, there was no better way for the dark amber haired beauty to explain it beyond that - a feeling. She no proof of their relation or kin, but she just…felt…they somehow shared the same blood. Just as some people could 'feel' coming weather in their bones or the feel Granny got on a full moon thanks to that gashed scar on her arm.

Henry made another distasteful face. "Eww, I can't be related to Mr. Gold. That's be really weird seeing as he's old enough-"

"To be your grandfather…" Emma filled in abruptly, startling the trio from their chat. Her voice sounded dulled and dazed as though coming out of some sleep or a revelation had suddenly struck her out of the blue. A whitish pall had fallen over her face making her seem akin to a wraith than a living person.

It couldn't have been. And yet, far stranger things had happened…

~8~8~

"He called himself Marshall Trent." Emma sighed in quiet forlornness as she slipped into the free seat about Mr. Gold's kitchen table. Her slightly trembling hands curled about a warm, brown mug steaming with hot coffee Belle offered to her as they made themselves comfortable in the Dark One's home.

The table was surrounded with only the Dark One, his love, and the curse breaker who sat somberly in the dimly lit kitchen; their eyes riveted to the solemn sheriff, staring dourly down into her dark cup of swirling caffeine at her own sorrowful reflection mirrored in the blackness.

Outside the snow had already liberally frosted the deadened ground with its alabaster flakes, with more steadily floating down to the cold earth to coat it in its blankets of white.

Henry was back at the mines being watched by a loving grandfather and mother who were telling their wide eyed grandson tales of old with snapping dragons and fairies and battles of their old realm while the stunned Emma related her tale to the eagerly listening pair before her.

The stoic curse breaker allowed a mirthless half chuckle to tumble from her lips as she took a precarious sip of the brew to wet her throat. "I was a fifteen year old who had a rap sheet longer than my arm and practically working to live because my foster parents never really took…"She coughed awkwardly, tactfully jumping off that particular painful vein of conversation in her past. "He was seventeen and I'd never seen him in town before meaning he didn't know my past and I didn't know anything about him."

"Do you remember what he looked like?" Gold inquired lowly to mask the excitement bubbling inside his wiry form. It was hard to suppress emotions of finally having what could be a clue, a life link to a son long ago lost because of cowardice.

Emma snorted, a sardonic smirk twitching upon her lips. "Average height for a guy his age, a mop of dark brown hair-"

"Light brown eyes that were almost hazel, and a wide ready smile that came as natural and breathing." The Dark One interjected immediately; filling in the blanks.

Surprise flashed upon the flaxen haired curse breakers features at the precise description of the man she recalled so many years ago, when she'd been nothing more than a troubled teen. "Spot on." She revealed, with just a hint of suspicion lacing her morbid tone. Shaking her head, she forced the shock away to continue. "We met at a dinner I was working at illegally. Like I said he was new in town so I decided to buddy up to him." A shadow of shame drooped upon her face. "I had been planning to rob him if I could get a chance, but…things happened."

Belle's brow knit ponderously in confusion as she leaned forward, entirely intrigued at the unwinding tale uncoiling before them. "Things?"

"He was nice." Emma admitted hollowly with a simple shrug. "I hadn't met a lot of guys like him. Chivalrous is what I would have called him." She took another long draught of the coffee; glad of its bite and heat as she steeled her nerves to continue. "We started seeing each other off and on, I stopped getting into so much trouble, and we had a thing going for a few months."

"Some times I'd asked him where he was from, to you know try to pin point where he called home sweet home. Every time he'd just smile and say Neverland or a long, long way away. I never took it seriously, being who I was back then, I thought he was probably some spoiled rich kid who didn't want me to start mooching or get to close to his squeaky clean family. Now, knowing everything that's happened with Regina and the curse it makes me wonder…" She shook her honey golden tresses her mind banishing the peculiar thought. "Anyway, after a while we started talking about hopes and dream and the future together. He said once he turned eighteen he was going into the army then the marines; said he always wanted to fight for a just cause."

A pained looked overcastted the Dark One's scruffy face as he looked away from the table to hide the scalding press of tears pricking the back of her eyes. "Bae always did want to fight." He murmured so quietly, only Belle could hear him.

Emma pressed on, not knowing the heart choking words the magical monster had painfully uttered or the memories it dredged inside of him. "I told him of my dream…to you know…have that neat little home behind your standard white picket fence in the suburbs crap." The blonde admitted sheepishly. "I was so stupid back then, I thought he was the one and our dreams would really come true."

Her grimace deepened with a dark, bitter air falling upon her of a woman robbed and cheated of a life at happiness in the ripe of her innocent life. "Not much to tell after that. I gave up the goods, got pregnant with Henry and Marshall was out before you could say 'daddy'. He left me a month pregnant in a home that was about to send me back to the foster care center for getting knocked up."

"I can still remember him hopping into his beat up truck as I was crying and screaming at him. Right before he put it in gear and drove away I called him a coward and kicked one hell of a dent into his driver seat door." Her eyes took on a faraway look as if remembering the day he left as though it were happening again. "I remember he looked at me, and he was nearly in tears. There was so much pain there, just wallowing in his eyes, for a moment I actually felt sorry for him. All he said was, 'like father like son' and drove off. I never saw him after that." After a moment she added in a mirthless huff. "Sounds like a real pity party sob story doesn't it."

Such a tale was the reason she had lied to Henry. No child, certainly not a great kid like him, deserved the pain of knowing their dad ran off when they found out they had been conceived. Having given him up for adoption was enough misery for the kid.

Silence reigned like a thick shroud of despondent mist betwixt the melancholic trio. The tendrils of milky steam winding into the magic filled air had long since died and the dark coffee lay cool and untouched as each consulted with their private thoughts stirring through their hearts and minds.

"No." Rum finally ground out at length, his head shaking in denial. "You can't be talking about my son." He swallowed down a scalding lump of shame and regret at the memories of his precious boy. "My son was a brave and honorable soul ready to heft a spear against ogres and defend land and kin when he was not but 13. He would never act so cravenly; he was never like me."

"There are different ways to be courageous. He may be all gung-ho to pick up a sword and leap into the fray, but the first word of parenthood had him running with his tail tucked between his legs!" Emma retorted in a snarling snap.

Darkness fevered through the fiend's eyes at the lashing words biting at his aching black heart, so filled with regret and sorrow it weighed like a boulder in his chest. His fingers curled about the wood table, forcing himself to blast her to char at a thought. How dare she speak so flagrantly about his Bae.

Pain and torment ripped into his soul, their words taunting him and filling him with nightmarish images of his son turning tail just as he did when he was a spearman in the ogres war. The embers of rage flared to life within him, making him see red and only wanting to hurt the foolish woman in front of him as he had been hurt by the cutting words.

Belle placed a gentle hand on her love's shoulder, calming the rising inferno blazing to life in his chest. He wanted to rebuff the sheriff's stinging words, slash them to bits with his callous reasoning to make her seem a blubbering fool, and yet, his Belle kept him seated in his chair, forcing the fire simply to roil on the inside of his wiry frame when he so desperately wanted to breath it towards the scowling sheriff.

"Despite what opinion she has or what story she tells, Rum, does this sound anything like your son?" Belle inquired curiously, her voice like balm to the reopened wounds gashed in his soul.

He nodded distantly, fire still blazing far from quenched in his chestnut orbs towards Emma inappropriate remarks. "A bit. I'll admit most of what she says is reminiscent of my son. I don't understand how he could be two years older than you. If he aged at all while he was here and we were all back in our true world, he'd be older than me."

"Whenever I asked him about where he was from he'd always just dodge and laugh and say Neverland." Emma reiterated musingly, her attitude nonplused with death very closely staring her in the eyes. "I don't know if it's true or not, but it's probably the best explanation you've got to go on."

A dark sneer curled upon the Dark One's lips. "Then I see I shall have to pay Hook a visit and see what he knows, if anything."

If anyone knew anything about Neverland it would most assuredly be the notorious pirate captain that had terrorized the seas of the world three stars to the right and straight on till morning. Perhaps, he might detail the strange age gap that seemed to be pronounced with the shade of Bae that may have lingered in Emma's past, if it was him at all.

There was, the magical fiend noted, so many ifs and guesses and perhaps and maybes that it seemed as though they were wandering in a dark cavern, trying to find a way out when they'd had no clue which way to turn.

Suddenly, with a lazy flick of the wrist, the Dark One summoned magic's to his call that instantly ensorcelled the surprised Miss Swann. Part of her began to cry out in alarm and fear, but her pride made her clench her mouth shut as she fought the urge to shiver from the feeling of cobwebs skimming lightly over her flesh.

"If that's all you have to offer, Miss Swann, then please, go back to your filthy little rabble scrounging in the mines." The Dark One growled imperiously.

In mere moments the air stilled its lilac shimmering as the leader of the rebels disappeared into nothingness back to her encampment.

A deep sigh tumbled dourly from his lips as he sunk low in his chairs, his wiry fingers rubbing his temples in frustration and pain. How had he never known or even guessed his son might perchance be Henry's father! Had he truly been so one sighted, so intently set upon one purpose he had missed all else that could hint at his sons return? Was he truly that desperate that he could not see the enchanted forest for the trees?

"It's alright." Belle soothed tenderly, always ready with a kind word to assuage the pain gnashing at his heart.

For a moment he was almost tempted to believe her. The words slid so comfortingly from his lush pink lips, it actually made him think for the briefest of instances everything would be fine, but how could that possibly be? "How I wish I could believe that." He replied sullenly.

Abruptly, Belle placed her hand upon his thigh, just as she had done that long night ago in the Dark Castle when they had shared such a tentative, shy kiss. "Well, we can't do anything about it now. So, for starters let's get supper going and then worry about, Hook and Regina and Emma and all that may come of this tomorrow."

There was no good dwelling on things that couldn't be changed at that exact moment. To do so, would be foolish in overtaxing an already tired mind and body even if it did belong to the seemingly tireless Dark One.

It did sound like an excellent plan Rum conceded with a ghost of a grin dashing upon his lips. A small chuckle rumbled imperceptibly from his throat as he turned to her with gratefulness of her wit and stoic guidance keeping him steady. His five o'clock shadow tickled her as he nuzzled her lovingly for being his rock when the entire world tried to set him adrift and alone.

"What would I do without you, beloved Belle-of-mine?" He queried in a low whisper as he stole the faintest of gentlemanly kisses upon her hand.

She crinkled her nose, her eyes flashing jestingly. "Create a spell that transported an entire world to a foreign one."

At that they both remained silent for a moment, attempting valiantly to keep strait, neutral faces serious and calm, before breaking into mirthful peals of amusing laughter ringing throughout their home.


	21. Searching and Inquiries

_A/N: Whoa, what a week and it aint even half over yet! Been kind of distracted lately, guys and gals, really, really difficult to sit down and do this one. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! Cookies for all!_

**~8~8~**

"Well, well if it aint me old pal, Rumpelstiltskin." Captain Hook huffed in a low rumbling chuckle as the Dark One appeared inside the old bar located near the Storybrooke cannery.

The filthy rats nest of a tavern was run down old joint where most of the burly rough and tumble workers in the cannery spent their nights carousing and drinking their low pay away while grousing over life's ills and the sordid fates they'd been dealt.

Of course, after the curse had been broken, most woke up from their magical induced hazed memories to remember who they truly were - Hook's crew. The murderous brigands of the Jolly Roger were the surliest, thick skinned ruffians that had terrorized the seas in Neverland and beyond, making the grouchy Leroy look like a bright and chipper housewife compared to their savagery.

Dim light illuminated the grubby, tarnished pub showing old fishing gear of rotted corded nets, fishing poles, bobbers, and harpoon all centuries of years old stashed and cluttered in cobwebbed corners and covered in a thick grayish grime.

A heavy, smoky haze rose to the rafters of the establishment in a wreath of odorous, rank fumes that caused people, who weren't regulars, to break into harsh coughing fits with the vapors painfully plummeting down their lungs and attacking their airway with its acrid stench.

Even in the scant tarnished light slanting through the grime caked windows and filtering through the open door, the notorious captain could make out another figure trailing close behind the calm Dark One.

A weasel like grin snaked upon his features as emitted another quiet laugh. "Brought the missus along too I see." He flourished his polished hooked extremity in mock greeting towards the wary, yet brave beauty exuding as much calm and control as the magical beast protectively in front of her.

"Certainly has been a long time." The Dark One concurred dryly in a tone that dispelled any notion of false pleasantries and also to draw attention away from his Belle.

With him back on the scent of his lost son, even if it was merely a shot in the dark, Rumpelstiltskin had no inclination to prattle on with veiled words or implied threat. No, better to get down to business then leave the wretched dung hole without a hint of filth staining his precious Belle.

The pair drew up two mismatched chairs to the rickety round galley table where the pirate captain had been enjoying an old bottle of tequila. A well used shot glass sat in hands reach of the lazily grinning, mustached man that radiated a form of conning trust. By the looks of the opaque liquid shimmering to about the middle, and the streaks of red in the whites of his eyes, he had been about his heavy drinking with a fierce gusto.

Pouring a fair amount into his dirty shot glass, the wicked captain made a deferential salutation towards them both before throwing it back. Smacking his lips in satisfaction he let the fiery sting blaze down his throat.

"That it has." Hook concurred with a smile. For a moment the oily grin dissipated from his features as he stared at the hook upon the stump of his hand. "That it has." He murmured lowly.

"How do you two know one another?" Belle blurted suddenly; unable to keep her curiosity at bay. How her love appeared to have dealt with everyone in town at some point had always sparked an inferno of questions which she was always hard pressed to restrain.

The pirate captain allowed a small smirk. "The way everyone knows him, miss. Deals, bargains, trades, the usual things people come to the Dark One for. I used to run goods for him he could never get in Neverland. It was a cozy deal; he got a few plants and water and I got…well looking back, I never really got what I wanted." A look of self deprecation and regret bloomed sorrowfully upon his grizzled features, but vanished as he regained his sinister smirk. "Oh, but you couldn't be here with your girl simply to yawn on about old times, Rumpel, what's it you really want now?"

"I want to know if you ever remember running into a young brown haired boy about 13 while you were terrorizing the high seas in Neverland." Gold dove in simply; not wasting his time with the painful blow the words would deal to the captain. There was no time to waste, as every moment could draw him closer to his son.

Hook visibly stiffened as though the businessman had struck him dead in the face with his gold handled cane. "Never thought you one to pick at a mans wounds, Gold." The pirate groused dourly as he twirled the shot glass with his hook. Forgoing the grimy glass he pulled a long draught from the bottle before continuing. "You know my history."

"I'm not referring to Pan." The Dark One clarified with a smirk at the pain lashing across Hook's weathered face. "He had a band of lost boys. If memories serves, they had a penchant to foil a murderous man and his crew at every plot they dared form."

Abruptly, the pirate captain slammed the solid silver hook that had given him his notorious moniker down viciously upon the table unsteady table. The tip dug barbarically into the old rough, wood, showing just what it could easily do to flesh if he had a mind.

His face was a reddened mask of enraged scarlet. "Don't you be reminding me of them miscreants, Gold. I remember them well enough. I a' member how they constantly made me a laughing stock in Neverland with their wily tricks. " He snarled furiously; still seething over injustices done to him a life time ago.

The Dark One grinned, nonplused by the pirates savagery. From the corner of his eye he could see Belle staring intently at the infamous captain of the Jolly Roger. "Good, if you can recall them so well, maybe you can tell me more about them."

"A bunch of riff raff and rabble they was." Hook cursed vehemently, his gray eyes flashing with the fires of hate. "Short ones, tallish ones, and Pan's right hand man a kid with a mop of dark brown hair. Barney, Barry, some sort of odd name and some such."

"Baelfire?" Blurted the Dark One, his nerves bristling with excitement.

Part of him always scolded himself for throwing his normal tact to the wind when it came to the very name of his son, but it couldn't be helped, not when he had been so long without his boy and now there was a faint invariable trace of him in a link he had never considered.

The pirate nodded and sagely tugged at his chin in thought. "Eh could have…" He paused suddenly, his hooked appendage deftly and craftily twirled his dark curled mustache. "What's so important about the lad, huh?"

"Hook." Rum growled in warning, his voice promising pain and death. Magic flared violently to his curled hand, ready to be aimed in Hook's direction should he be so foolish as to deny him answers.

Did that moron of a brigand know exactly who he was dealing with and the important information he possessed? For even a scrap of information concerning his son Rum would have peeled the pirates flesh from his bones if it would have elicited an answer to his inquiries.

The weathered captain shook his head in mock sorrow; enjoying the magical beasts distress. His silvered hook toyed with the cap to the tequila, making it spin upon its edge as he dared deny the Dark One what he sought. "Nah, I reckon I've said to much as it is. Can't have Regina thinking I'm watching out for me own back instead of just playing to her tune. Seems like she's controlling everyone these days." Suddenly he swiveled his head from the Dark One to Belle, the same knowing grin upon his alcohol stained lips as he offered her a sly wink. "Aint that right, miss?"

Perhaps it was the drunkenness that fueled his foolish choices, or mayhap it was an action born of stung pride bringing up anything of Pan and his constantly foiled crew. Whatever the reason, the pirate extended his hook out towards Belle, a sinister smile pinioned up his features.

The clawed extremity never got half way before Rumpelstiltskin met the silver with the gold tip of his cane; expertly interlocking and blocking Hook from progressing further.

A loud clack sonorously chimed throughout the foul bar as the two remained locked hook and cane.

The smoky air was nearly palpable as the Dark One stared fiercely into the captains gray eyes as though daring him to try and free his hook and try again. All he needed was one thought of a threat to his Belle, and the pirate would be nothing more than a scarlet grease stain on the already disgusting floor.

Rumpelstiltskin's lips were curled back into a feral, untamed snarl as he wrenched at the glistening hook harder. "You will tell me all you know or so help me I will take your other hand and see if that croc enjoys it as much as the one Pan cut off."

"Rum." Belle piped tenderly up for the first time since her unexpected query. Her voice was akin to a cool breeze on a sweltering summer's noon, taking his flickering flame of anger and blowing it out.

Rage the magical fiend felt stirring within settled into an uncomfortable simmer as her voice broke through the haze of desperation and fury. He felt his cane sliding slowly away from the pirate involuntarily, Belle's tone softly gliding through his ears to quell the infuriation.

"Much obliged, miss." Hook made a salting, rather relieved gesture to the beauty. Though the pirate tried to remain cool, the driblets of profuse sweat about his neck spoke otherwise of clashing idiotically with the Dark One.

The vile pirate captain smirked cockily to the magical beast. "I see your girl friend has you on a tight leash. Rumpelstiltskin I used to know would have blasted me half way to kingdom come by now."

"I still will if you don't tell me what you know." Rum snapped.

"He doesn't know anything." The chestnut haired beauty concluded; her gaze stapled to the captain as though she could see right through him. She had always held a knack of perception. "You were a captain, you hate being under Regina's heel. If you knew anything you would cut a deal at this moment to be free of her."

Captain Hook stared hard at the brilliant beauty who never backed down one inch from his stern, ruthless gaze. Long, tenuous moments passed before the pirate broke into an amused and defeated grin. "Clever girl." He commended as he took another swig of the alcohol and nodded to Rumpel. "She's right you know. If I could cut a deal for any information I would."

"So why string us along at all." The Dark One snarled dangerously, desperation hint the borders of his feral growl. "I'd have better things to do than sit in your pig sty of a bar and listen to your drunken ramblings."

Hook chuckled dryly and licked his lips. "Just an old sailor looking for something in his past to recall."

The pirate gazed sternly into the green bottle glass that sat before him as though it housed some image that only he could see. His brow knit in hard lines of deep pondering as a grimace formed upon his features. " Surely you can feel it like all of us can; like your girl there can, I reckon. We're getting tired of this world, Rumpelstiltskin. All of us, the good and the bad; we want to go home. Don't get me wrong, this world is nice with its strange magic they call technology and all, but aint home. It will never be home. More are starting to abandon Regina the more homesick they feel." A mirthless chuckle fell despondently from his lips as he sunk into his seat. "You know, we all wanted power, many still do. We just…well, we just want to go home more now."

"So you allowed a meeting just to give me a heads up on the turning tide." Rum snorted derisively; his timbre cutting and calloused.

He already knew as such. The tie to their true world was strong; it funneled through their very blood. While the curse had transported them here, and swiped their memories clean, it could never strip the longing for home that tethered them to their other realm. It called to their very bones to return from whence they had come.

"Dammit, you filthy toad fleshed imp, we just want you to end it already!" The captain roared revelatory as he slammed the bottle down. Alcohol sprayed sloshed in every direction upon the rickety table, coating it in a clear liquid that swilled with the dirt and grime. "We all know you can, you just won't for any of your own reasons, you selfish, arrogant, beastly monster!"

This time, at the outburst, Belle couldn't stop the Dark One in time for his angered reaction towards the pirate.

_Crack_!

The gold handled cane made direct contact with the side of Hook's skull like a baton smashing against a gong. A strange disconcerting noise squeaked from the captain's lips as he swayed unsteadily in his chair.

For many it would have spelled a quick demise of a broke skull, but fortunately Hook had a thick skull that never seemed to let anything pass through; least of all common sense.

With out a sound he plummeted to the floor in an unconscious heap.

"Come Belle." Rum requested gently to the beauty who had her hands over her mouth at the horror and rapid savagery she had witnessed.

Silently she rose, but not without casting a terrified glance her loves way. "You didn't have to do that." She observed mildly, some what cowed by the act of barbarism he displayed. She hated it when he acted so…beastly.

"And ruin my sterling reputation." He attempted a slight quip that fell flat.

A part of him wished Belle hadn't been insistent to come along to broach Hook about Pan's gang and perchance his son. He could get so much more done when she wasn't soothing his rankled ire and gently reminding him of his humanity.

A man was more inclined to tell him everything he knew when he was beating him senseless than when he was taking them for a round of twenty questions that led to nowhere.

In truth, it was easy to be the snapping, snarling beast of old who abused his powers ruthlessly upon those that crossed him, than the man he wanted Belle to see and the man he desired to be.

It was his reputation, the beastliness and sheer ruthlessness, Belle admitted sadly to herself. Her love had a disturbing knack for a feral manner unequaled to that of even the most ferocious of rabid animals. It was something branded upon him, something she feared would be nigh impossible for him to erase or her to fully tame.

Sliding her arm into his, she laid her head upon his shoulder and sighed as though reading every thought he had. "I came with you for precisely this purpose of keeping you settled. Believe me, I know you desire to have your son back at any price, but at the cost of you losing everything you've learned?"

Where was the progress in that if once he had his son they were back to square one?

A ponderous sigh fell dourly past his lips skewed in something half between a grimace and a sneer. Rum leaned in closer to his true love as he deeply breath in the scent of her honeysuckle shampoo still lingering faintly upon her thick dark amber tresses.

"Forgive me, my love." He whispered somberly ingeniously changing the subject.

Her brow knit with a hint of alarm migled liberally with curiosity as her thoughts about his barbarity slipped wholly from her mind. That had been more than an odd statement. What had he to apologize for; what crime had he committed to beg her forgiveness?

A pit of terror pooled in her gut, but she swallowed back the fear bravely. "What is it I shall need to forgive?"

While she hadn't approved of him smashing his cane across the pirates head, to say she was displeased with the action would have been a flagrant lie on her part.

"Sullying your reputation, putting a mark of shame upon you with your association to me, and fraternizing with you have all marred upon you a sigil of scorn. My foulness has bled into you as far as others are concerned, branding you as the beasts cohort. For making your life more difficult than it already was." His wiry fingers slowly entwined with hers as he squeezed lovingly. "For staining your alabaster purity with my malignant darkness. For that I am sorry."

Belle crinkled her nose in a way that always made a smile bloom upon the Dark One's face. "If that's all, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry over, beloved."

She didn't care what others thought of them. Yes, he could be wild and feral and barbaric, and he could be rather beastly, but no matter who tried to judge them, her love would never fade from her Rum.

Rumpelstiltskin forced a smile towards his love as they meandered back to their home of pink. If only he really believed that.

~8~8~

A dark sneer stabbed upon Regina's pallid lips as she sat staring into the orange-red space on her fireplace warm glow; her mind lost in thoughts and ponderings. Heat buffeted her smooth face like the heat of her fury in a physical manifestation.

Her magic laced fingers steadily drummed a slow beat against the upholstered armrest of her chair while she sipped a glass of her famous apple brandy sparingly. Once a delectable alcohol, now tasted of ash and bile in her mouth. It's flavor was now tinged with the swill of set backs and unexpected plans barring the way to her complete and utter triumph.

In less than a day, Mr. Gold's little trollop had managed to escape, burn half her home and ferry her son away with her flawlessly like some master thief and deposit him to his mother! Despite that fact, no one in the rebellion attempted to hide, she knew very little else of their plotting and plans. These were times she wished she still had her dwarven spy relating their doings, and yet now even he had been pulled from her rapidly dwindling arsenal.

And all thanks to that one little slave girl putting dents in her carefully crafted schemes. That, in any regard could not be allowed. The girl would pay for all she had done in due time. She would pay a thousand times over for every transgression against the ultimate ruler she sought to undermine.

Of course she had the one precious thing Belle had, but it wasn't enough, not yet. That last resort, that tool was only for the direst of circumstances, which she feared was fast approaching. Hook had already drawn out with his useless crew, being just one of many who were steadily abandoning her.

But that didn't matter, none of it would matter soon when she was finally, undeniably in place as ruler for all eternity in the misbegotten little town of Storybrooke.

Her hard, teal eyes fell to a medium sized dark mahogany box resting by her chair. It was a rather bland looking container, with a few crafted crests along its gold trimmed sides. At some point, it might have even been a small girl's jewelry box.

A sinister grin curled upon her glossy ruby lips as her finger tips lightly patted the top of the box with satisfaction. To have such a weapon that would bring the Dark One to her very bidding was a comfort indeed to have so close.

Those who had abandoned her with those who sought to defy her would pay, she promised remorselessly under her breath. Yes, all would suffer soon, so very, very soon.


	22. What He Doesn't Know

_A/N: I know I usually put these up like a day after my last chapter, but life seems to be kicking my happy behind this week :/ Oh well. But on the bright side…OMG OUaT. I really hope they give Rum/Belle more than 2 minutes of action this time around (and hopefully some sweetness to combat the incoming drama). Anyway, thanks so much for reading and reviewing you wonderful people!_

**~8~8~**

Leaden gray clouds curled ominous in the freezing heavens swept overhead of the sleepy, magic ridden town of Storybrooke. The thick swirling mass of vapor seemed to darkly promise more snow before the day was at an end.

Already the flakes that had fallen upon the earth was piled in high drifts and shifting dunes upon every lawn, and most streets that were not busy thoroughfares. Everything was frosted in crisp, glimmering blankets of ivory from the coppices of towering pines in the dark forest, to the clock tower glistening with ice and the lovely flakes.

To any who didn't know the darkness festering under the town or the war being waged by a group of rag-tag rebels fighting an evil queen who wielded murderous magic, the place looked like something you'd see on a postcard in a gift shop. All that was missing were the sleds torpedoing down the snow blanketed knolls and the snowmen out on every yard.

Though the place was utterly gorgeous in its snow layered bucolic scenery, all beauty was lost to the grim sheriff standing upon the ice slick sidewalk out side Mr. Gold's home.

Emma Swann's dark blue eyes glowered distempered towards the thick glass and oak door that lead to the home of the Dark One. A scowl wrenched upon her taut features as she forced herself not to spit in disgust and plod back to the rebel hideaway.

Every part of her lithe body radiated utter loathing, disgust and roiling hatred even being in the shadow of Mr. Gold's dusky pink domicile. Like him the home, the only stand out dwelling on the entire street, radiated something different; something powerful and flamboyant and not afraid to hide that fact in the least.

A gust of frigid air drove across her flesh causing her to shiver even under her thick layers shielding her from the bitter, far too bitter, cold of early winter. It was as though the weather was mirroring Regina's heart; something cold, and frozen and frigid holding the earth enthralled with darkness.

Shaking the less than pleasant thought away that Regina had enough power to cause discord with the weather, she focused on the reason why she was currently facing the home of the man she'd rather have locked in the deepest mine than rambled about free and unfettered about the town.

What she was about to do made the bile boil in her body, and yet she knew it had to be done. After all she had done to Belle, the unforgivable accusations pummeled upon her, the cold hearted shunning she deserved at least one mercy.

Guilt haunted the sheriff's steps like some un-avenged specter waiting for a wrong to be set aright. Her grief in the destruction of the slaughter that cold autumn night had prompted her turn a deaf ear to Belle's insistent pleas of innocence. She had chosen not to listen to her head, but to her emotion wracked heart that denied most common sense.

Everything she had cast upon Belle had been wrong simply done to her being mad with grief.

A sigh fell insipidly from her lips as she relinquished her pride and slowly nodded to herself. As of late the lines where right and wrong clashed were hazy and gray, but this…this was the right thing to do. With more people casting themselves away from the conniving witch Regina and her mad plots to keep everyone under her thumb for all eternity, the curse breaker couldn't help but recall the clairvoyant visions in the silver scrying pool and what revealing those revelations could portend.

"I hope I don't regret this." Emma murmured lowly through grimacing lips as she crunched up the concrete walk to the threshold of the Gold residence.

Steeling her nerves stalwartly she rapped sharply upon the door and hugged her body for warmth once more as she half of her prayed that no one would answer.

Almost immediately she could hear the dull pounding of light feet racing towards the door. Mr. Gold, she knew critically always walked as though there was no hurry and that the world waited upon his every whim, even now that he did not have a true need of a cane.

There was a slowly ominous tempo to it that gave one the impression that no matter what you tried to dodge or fool the Dark One, no matter how fast you ran or what stumbling blocks you erected to barricade him, sooner or later he would get you.

A small puff of misty vapors escaped her mouth in the relief that at least it more than likely wasn't Gold who was answering the door. No part of her wanted to explain to a scowling Dark One why she had come.

From the other side of the portal she could hear the many locks being tampered with, and the magic that warded the home thrumming about her to survey her as some sort of threat or not. The sheriff forced herself not to swallow nervously as magic tingled past what little skin was left to the frigid eve and played through her honey tresses like the wind.

After all she had done, she could only hope the Dark One had not put her in some sort of list that marked her as 'threat'.

Mary Margaret had already told her the tales of the magical beast's extensive powers and what he could do with barely a thought and a flick of his wrist.

The door creaked open slowly to just a thin dark slit where Belle could cautiously peer out into the town that hated her love.

"Emma." She announced simply in surprise and terse greeting tacked along with a small nod.

The russets haired beauty's azure depths glittered with stark mistrust as she scanned the sheriff intently from the safety and shadow of her loves home. Her finger curled tensely about the wood frame of the door just in case she had to slam it shut and let the magic whispering about her to spring into action by forcibly pushing some unwanted away.

Pulling the door open further the curious woman offered the curse breaker a thin frown. "If you're looking for Rum, he's not here right now."

Ever since there interaction with Hook he had been gone more often querying people that might have known or even seen his boy at one point in their old world.

When she did not accompany him, he had given her his solemn word there would be no more outbursts like the one with the pirate captain who no doubt still had one huge purple and blue dappled bruise on the side of his skull and an ostrich egg sized lump to go along with it.

She began to slide the door shut only to have Emma's hand thrust in to block the way partially. "Actually." The curse breaker began somewhat nervously. "I came hear to speak to you, hopefully without Mr. Gold hanging over your shoulder like a second shadow."

Belle's brow furrowed in confusion at the revelation. She had no power or ingenuity to aid the rebels even if Emma desired her help. Not anymore, not since Regina had her in such an all controlling state.

"I think its time we buried the hatchet." The sheriff verified lowly; her tone laced with a bit of relief that the magic had not deflected her boldness and Belle had not slammed the door in her face.

Her shoulders dropped slightly as another melancholic frown played about her intense features. "I also have something important to tell you that you need to know."

For a moment Belle stared at the blonde indecisively. After all she had done to her and her true love; the sheriff deserved nothing but to meet the outside of the door. And yet, Belle had never been one to hold upon anger of disservices done to her, even if it had nearly cost her sanity.

Dabbing her pink lips, she nodded slowly and pried back the oaken door just a few inches wider. The hinges squeaked ominously as the musty smell of dust and age seeped from the home like stench of some reopened tomb. Warmth emanated from the vast home clashed with the outside air, making the beauty shiver slightly as cold oozed in and beat back the heat.

With the door now opened fully, Emma could see the dark, amber haired beauty wore one of Mr. Gold's soft blue business shirts that fell to her lower thighs. The silk was embroidered in intricate patterns of gold thread around the cuff edges and fastened with gold hued buttons. Other than the overlarge shirt, she merely wore a faded pair of old jeans Ruby had donated to her what felt like lifetimes ago.

The wrinkled article of the Dark One's clothing looked like it had been worn the day before, and the pink lipstick smeared heavy about the collar told the sheriff the magical fiend probably hadn't been out of the shirt long before Belle had taken up residence.

Making certain she locked the door properly as Rum had shown her, the beauty offered a half hearted tenuous smile to the curse breaker as proffered a hand to the dark hall that led to the kitchen. "Let's talk in the kitchen; I just put on a pot of tea when you arrived."

Inwardly Emma grimaced, having never been a huge fan of tea. She much more preferred cocoa and cinnamon, but nodded amiably as she followed Belle.

"And just to clarify Rum dose not hover over me like some shadow." She defended sagely as they wandered through the extensive, dim dwelling of the Dark One in all its cluttered and dust caked glory. "He's protective of me."

Sometimes he could be a little too protective, but that was simply his nature to keep safe what he loved. For all his vast centuries as the Dark One in their old world the closest he had ever come to filling the void where love should have been placed in his heart was gathering trinkets and curious and rare treasures gathered from his fortuitous deal makings.

If he did come off as a touch owning, Belle knew better than anyone the reasons that spurred such actions. He knew no better, but he was desperately trying to learn.

Emma snorted disdainfully. "Really because from here it looks a lot like possessive."

Belle let the tips of her fingers taper across a grimy wall as they made the last turn. A small huff an amusement exhaled from her mouth as he lips upturned slightly. "I bet 'from there' he also looks like a man in a red suit, with horns spiraling out of his head and carrying a pitchfork."

At that, the tenacious sheriff didn't deem to reply, but a hint of a smile twitched upon the very border of her lips towards the jesting observation.

The rose and maroon painted kettle was just beginning to whistle it shrill tune as the pair entered the cleaned, brightly lit kitchen that made the gray day seem even heavier and forlorn than it truly was.

While the rest of the home seemed sullied with grime layered upon forgotten treasures, the kitchen showed signs of being recently scrubbed clean and all set in working order.

Though she had planned nothing of the nature, Belle had involuntarily fallen back into a more dutiful role while roaming the extensive home of the Dark One. For so long she had been a slave, it came as easy as breathing to clean and dust his home like she had used to years and years ago.

Thin streams of misty steam curled into the warm air, filling the atmosphere with the fragrance of raspberries wafting upon the currents as the shriek of the kettle reached a higher octave of alert.

The sweet, pungent aroma reminded Belle of summer in the Dark Castle, which was one reason she had chosen it on such a freezing day. Memories seemed to float along in the mists of the heady steam as she recalled the rare occasions they would trek outside and she would read under the awning, spread boughs of a mighty oak tree that towered by a babbling brook.

She would sit there reading aloud of her chosen tome while Rum listened attentively or half way asleep; drowsy with the warmth all around them and dizzy with the scents of summer.

All though Belle never voiced it, she had always been happy he could be so comfortable around her, not having to sleep with one eye open or with a wariness she could try to run. No, a part of her was proud that she made him feel…at ease.

Never had he bound her in chains or given her too dire a threat on the occasions he did allow her leave out into the sun. There was an unspoken revelation that he trusted her unconditionally and was willing to display that trust.

The thoughts helped steady the chestnut haired beauty who felt the knot of anxiousness and anger uncoil from within at Emma's unwarranted and supremely unwanted presence. Surprising how even a certain smell could calm a tumultuous soul, she thought for a moment before inwardly pushing the contemplation away for later. A certain peace fell over her that bolstered her courage and bravery as she grabbed two cups from the cabinet above her.

Pouring twin dark orange, ceramic mugs to the brim with the savory tea, Belle brought them to the table and slid in a seat opposite from the grim curse breaker who stared ice shards at the beauty.

Emma Swann took a precarious sip of the fragrant brew before diving in as to why she had asked to come inside. "Look, Belle, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for everything that happened. My severe dislike and mistrust of Gold wasn't meant to extend to you."

It wasn't enough, she knew certainly; to simply apologize for nearly making the woman go insane, but what else could she possibly say? She wasn't at all sorry for imprisoning Mr. Gold or taking advantage of Belle's dwindling insanity witch aided in helping house the terror Rumpelstiltskin in the foul prison below the earth.

"And yet the darkness of his reputation and all the hatred he's garnered for centuries will always seep to me." The bright beauty related simply. She didn't sound bitter or proud, just stating a well known fact like the sky was blue or that the earth was round. Pouring a bit of milk into her cup, she took precious few seconds to arrange her thoughts. "I am under no intricate illusion whom my true love is. He is not some knight in shining armor or some man wrongly accused for a crime. People dub him a beast for due reason. He is savage, he is dangerous, he will manipulate and then toss people away, and I know how others view him. Don't think I am unknowledgeable of what my situation stands and how people judge us."

Emma's thumb slowly encircled the warm rim of her cup. A commending, steely look flashed in her blue eyes. "But you don't care." There was a faint hint of respect in her low voice.

A ghost of a smile tapered across Belle's pink lips at the paltry understanding they shared. "Not in the least."

Draining the last dregs of the aromatic liquid the beauty tilted her head down looking at the last dribbling bits of tea still in her cup. "If that's all…"

"Actually there is something else." The blonde flicked her eyes away somewhat ashamed as though caught in indecision. Her fingers rapped slowly against the veneer in a tempo of her torn thoughts ripping apart by there seams.

Should she relate what begged to be spoken in her heart? What consequences would such an admission bring? Would she live to regret her decision?

A dour frown snaked upon her hard features as she sighed lowly in defeated acceptance to going with her gut. "There was more than my grief involved for imprisoning you." Emma revealed. She licked her dry lips with an even dryer tongue forcing herself to continue come what may. "Months ago I asked Mr. Gold for help. I wasn't sure about leading the rebellion and I wanted a hint of what could be in my future."

"You used the oracle bowl." Belle concluded then quickly silenced. Rum had once told her to peel back the veil of time was very risky business. So many circumstances could occur and go wrong that only one future in the mass of tens and thousands could be chosen.

"Yeah." The sheriff drawled anxiously her mouth a thin pink line. "There was a part…about you. Somthing I did not tell Gold when I should have. We were back in your old world with Regina dead and cold in the ground." She swallowed hard, bracing herself for the next part and come what may. "I heard my father talking to Gold, and he mentioned something about death. Belle, you were dead."

A few flakes of snow were just beginning to rustle from the skies as the clouds unloaded their burden to float down upon the already iced world of hardship and turmoil.

Emma's nerves tingled in intensity after the revelation sailed from her lips. There, it was out in the open, what she had long withheld from the Dark One in their deal. She expected the woman across from her to jump in alarm, her bright cobalt orbs frightened and wild in denial of the words and trying to explain what such a vision meant. For a moment she prepared herself for curses and screams to leave the home, yet nothing occurred.

Strangely, Belle seemed quite at ease. No words of denial or reasoning spewed from her mouth. She was calm, controlled if not saddened by the revelation. Her delicate hands curled over the sides of the still faintly warm ceramic as she slowly circled it in her tender grip; the only hint of worry rippling off her.

"You don't seem surprised." Emma observed grimly at length as she drew another draught of her cooling tea.

It was only then Belle's eyes lifted up. Her indigo eyes shimmered with the tenacious struggle to fight back the hot sear of tears. There was an acceptance radiating off her like a person knowing exactly what fate awaited her, and what such a severe demise would befall her in acute detail. "I'm not." She confirmed so hoarse its sounded akin to dried autumn leaves scuffling across cobblestone.

The sheriff's eyes narrowed in shadowed incredulity and suspicion as she stared hard at the Dark One's true love. "What do you know?"

Silence rolled over them like a heavy fog of despondency reigning down. Belle, said no words, but gently placed her hand over her heart, or rather where her heart should had been beating.

Images of Graham, the hard working, clever, and dedicated soul of a sheriff, suddenly flared through the stoic Emma's mind. She recalled his lips pressing against her own gently and herself warming to being in his arms and then…nothing. He stepped back, his mouth wide in a horrific scream that could not pass his bearded lips; his eye wide and dilated in terror.

She remembered his calloused fingers clutching over his chest in a vice and his finger nails digging into his flesh as though he could claw into his skin and bring forth what should have been there, but hadn't thudded in his form for many decades.

He had perished right there in her arms as testament to the peril of displeasing Regina.

The flaxen haired sheriff swallowed what felt like a brick lodged in her through at the recollection of that fateful night. "You mean she has…"

"My heart." Belle finished strongly though her strong timbre cracked slightly. Her head remained high and proud even in the face of such an admission.

At least the physical drumming mass of bloody flesh, the craven witch had in her possession. Only Rum could have her heart, all and entirely.

While she and Emma had never truly what could have been termed friends, no one deserved the hand fate had dealt Belle by her very life's thread into the vile claws of the arrogant, pompous Harpy Regina. There were some situations even to grisly for the most hard hearted of people.

"Does…um…" She tried to make her voice sound sturdy and calm as she distracted herself by flicking a crumb across the table. "Does Gold know?"

The heartless beauty shook her head slowly in solemn reply. One tear brooked down her porcelain cheeks, but she brushed it away quickly with a back of her hand. "He can't. He must never know."

"He's the most powerful sorcerer in Storybrooke. With a snap of his finger he could turn Regina into a bubbling puddle of thick purple goop and save you while ending this struggle." She protested angrily, her teeth clenched as she slammed her fist down upon the table. Contents upon the table jumped at the full force behind the enraged blow.

Belle refuted sadly, her eyes dropping back to her twisting hands. "But he won't. You see my heart is bound by vile magic's to Regina now. If anything happens to her…"

"He loses you." Emma blanched direly at the prospect of the witch commanding Gold like her personal slave all because she held the heart of his love in her accursed grip."

The beauty merely nodded in melancholic agreement at Emma's terrifying conclusion. "You know my love. He does not, will not, let things go. If he knows my life is at stake your rebellion is all for naught I fear."

"So why hasn't she moved against us yet to blackmail Gold if she had such a means?" Emma queried, her rough voice brimming with panic and sheer unadulterated fear.

At any other opportunity at such a resounding victory, the harpy would have immediately sprung her new weapon into action, so why now was she choosing to stay her hand? Was it a ploy or a mocking taunt right before she let her wrath plummet upon them? Did she, heaven forbid, have something even more powerful than the Dark One stashed away in her pocket?

The beauty could only offer a small heave of her shoulders and a sigh to the burning question. Rising slowly, she padded over to the hot kettle to pour herself another cup of the steaming brew. This time, however the alluring scent did nothing to calm the terror and defeat pooling noxiously inside her.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She admitted with a husky mirthless chuckle that bespoke desperation. She held the cup close to her chest for the warmth bereft of her body. "Fear of Henry, perhaps, not knowing the condition of her adoptive son, trying to set everything in order, or…" Belle paused a moment, her features once so bright and curious sallow and palled. "Or, she could be considering what exactly to do with this win dropped in her lap."

To have some thing the Dark One desperately wanted was akin to having a genie at your beck and call.

A thoroughly at a loss cry wrenched from the sheriff's sneer laden lips as she clutched at her skull in abject frustration. Truly it felt all for naught, with the queen having something so precious to Rumpelstiltskin. "So what do we do?"

What could they do besides give up and hope Regina, in all her triumphant preening and gloating, would have mercy on them all?

"You kill her of course." Belle answered mechanically without hesitation. She held up a hand before Emma could argue. "You know it's the only way to come out this with a victory and take everyone back to our world."

"Gold is not going to let me kill the woman who your life hinges upon." Emma argued evenly. There was no denying that glaringly obvious fact bared before them. He would just as easily slay them all if it meant keeping Belle safe.

"Which is why he doesn't know." She clarified softly as though dealing with a cranky child. Abruptly, her voice hardened like steel sharpening upon a whetstone. "Do you think this rebellion would be still floundering as we speak if he even had a hint of what Regina has! You would be probably housed under the hospital, like I was, forced to live out the rest of your existence in a five by five off white padded room with only the ants that skitter on the outside of you slit window for company."

Emma stared forlornly at the beauty. "Actually, according to my vision in the oracle, I would be forced to be Regina's personal assistant so she could always keep an eye on me and flaunt her victory for all and eternity."

A tenuous silence wavered between the pair for long minutes with each staring down into their cups, much like their hearts empty of everything they once held dear. Regina seemed so perilously close to victory, it was a wonder why she hadn't already celebrated her triumph and paraded down the streets with those few still loyal.

"If you can't accomplish this task then I will do what needs to be done. We don't know what will happen if she dies, but we do know what will happen if she lives long enough to tempt Rum with my heart into doing her bidding." The dark amber haired beauty proclaimed in a steadying sigh that foretold her honest words. "She can't win Emma; don't you see that? I will take my own life before I ever see her blackmail my true love and damn our people to this world forever. That is a promise."

No, she had to be brave, it couldn't simply be about herself and her Rum when there were thousands of them stuck in such a wretched existent. Come what may she had to make the sacrifice, even though at the thought of separating from her beloved hurt her heart more than anything Regina could have done.

"We'll have to move fast then." The sheriff scowled darkly; determination glowing radiantly upon her face. Sliding her chair back, she leapt up, her hand already going for her cell to make a few calls. Tapping the keys she hurriedly spoke to Belle. "It can't be long before she uses her leverage. We have to try with all our power to get that heart back before Rumpelstiltskin can get involved and doom us all..."


	23. Lured

_A/N: I am not going to give anything away for those who could not see the second season episode. I will say this though, OMG such goodness. They gave us spectacular Rum/Belle moments. And all in all genius! But enough of my drawling on. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and just being so kind!_

**~8~8~**

A vile curse spat from the Dark One's tightly pressed lips as he trudged out into the bitterly frigid evening air. Behind him, the shop owner he had pummeled relentlessly with questions shut and locked his door as though that would stave away the Dark One like any normal person. While he was in the establishment the poor fool had trembled and kept his distance as though a rabid wolf had found a way into his shop to devour him. He probably would have preferred such a fate compared to be stared down by the Dark one.

The sky was the color of an old tombstone whose epithet had been hewn away with age and elements. In many ways, the dreary hue of the firmament mirrored the emotions the magical beast felt brining within his lanky, yet powerful form. Another lead had turned up just as the hard ground under his feet - cold and dead.

Forcing himself not to scream to the world in sheer frustration, the magical beast kicked a piled lump of sleet melted snow dourly to vent some of his stewing desperation.

Rumors of his boy seemed like tales upon the wind, whispered by cruel hope only to be shown as a mirage later when promise dared peek out and well in him. In the end, when his expectation was utterly dashed, the darkness dwelling in the fetid morass of his mind would taunt him with yet another failure; just as he was.

His breath oozed out in light gray vapors as he tilted his head up to the dwindling light in the leaden, ever darkening sky. Crystalline flakes were just beginning to twirl down adding another layer to the already heavy sheets of accumulated snow layered upon the tiny town.

The world, this strange world in which they were outcasts, all bedecked in alabaster veil, seemed to be muffled in the morass melancholy allowing the darkness to creep further into his weary heart. With each flake brought another sadness to his burden, another dream crushed and promise stolen.

It was times such like this the worrying and fear always nestled firmly inside him wondered was it all for naught? Would he ever be granted the wondrous opportunity to let his gaze fall over his boy again and beg for forgiveness after such cowardly actions those years ago? Would he never hear Bae's laugh of his son's smile that haunted the corners of his mind? Would the dream of them all as one happy family living their lives in quiet peace be only that for all eternity; a painful dream that would forever be out of his reach?

The wailing wind itself, sliding the fallen crystals hither and thither upon the world seemed to silently cry 'no' at every contemplation that burst into his ancient mind. He was destined to seek for the rest of his life and come up empty and the wound gouged viciously in his chest would never be mended.

Wiping a few melting bits of snow from his warm cheek with his dark crimson shirt cuff sleeve, Gold licked his chapped lips briefly before waving his hand through the chill atmosphere.

Instantly, deep lilac magic burst from his hand like purple flames upon gas. The tongues of plum tinged power lashed upon the snow, ravenously devouring it until the unblemished path before him was wet with melt but clear of ice and dirty sleet.

With the way free and clear before him in the direction of home with his Belle, the magical fiend allowed a small, carefree sigh to slip from his rigid form. Belle, the loveliest woman to him in the entire realms was the balm for all his ills and hurts.

She was the poultice to his blistering sorrow, the potion to his gaping, bleeding wound, and while it would never be repaired, she was the soothing elixir that eased the never ending ache and numbed it to only a thudding agony.

At times now, when looking back upon all he had done in the grand scheme of life, he didn't truly know what turns the darkness festering within would have taken in that moment inside his dusty shop. Had she not awaked from the grave he had thought her once lain in a world away, the beast would have broken free of its bindings causing more heartache upon the town that was already dying of pain.

It was she that tamed the snapping dragon dormant in his wiry form when neither steel nor magic could subdue him. While no one could cage him for long, she held the leash that kept his barbarity in line. No one else in this world or the last could claim truthfully they owned the Dark One save Belle, always Belle.

He was powerless to her curious charms and her tender womanly stature, and found himself not caring in the slightest she could have proudly proclaimed in controlling his entire being.

"Gold!" A man rasped behind him making the Dark One scowl deeply as pleasant thoughts of Belle slid away like the sloughing waters of a high tide.

Each step of crunching snow made the fiend grit his teeth in gnashing fury. His black leather gloved hands curled tightly over the cold gold handle till he knew his knuckles were as pall as the unblemished snow.

How dare _he _confront him? The fool seemed not to know the last thing you do was run towards a distempered beast that had mauled you not once but twice. And this time there was no sheriff on his trail to stop him from doing the unthinkable.

And yet, despite the anger flaring within, he knew why it was imperative he show him at least a modicum of respect for Belle's sake, though it galled the very marrow of his bones not to snap at the churl. Anyone else would have long been transformed into a bug or simply tormented to death, but anything related to Belle, made him stay his hand from the killing blow. True enough he could hurt and cause agony, but he would not slay something or some one that was once so precious to his love.

This…pestilent gnat, this sorry excuse for a man, and utterly wretched excuse for a king had been a factor in loosing his Belle for so many tortuous years. Had any other done such they would have long ago been an indiscernible streak of bloody gore and specks of flesh swathed upon a castle floor.

Rum huffed, the motion drawing another ashen puff of cloud from his lips. "Mr. French, what brings you out on this cheery evening?" His lips twisted into a mocking leer. "Picking up Regina's laundry?"

It had been bad enough Belle's father had rejected her after so many years, but then to openly ally with Regina had been another mark not in the beauty's favor as far as the citizens of Storybrooke were concerned.

The corpulent man wheezed as he stopped a foot away from the Dark One as though that distant would protect him from the claws of magic. His lungs burned from to many cigarettes and far too much cold air at the exertion of his dead run.

Fiery crimson bloomed upon his face, the only warm thing on the bone chilling evening that felt as though it could efficiently freeze blood galloping through the very veins. Greedily inhaling huge, scorching breaths of snow tossed air, the former flower salesmen shook his head rapidly in offence at the cruelty.

"I've been looking all about town for you." He hacked and coughed violently, his entire body quivering at the effort and his age.

At that, Rum turned his head slightly askance to the portly man Belle called still called Papa with fondness and regret; his face a curious mixture of disgust and intrigue towards the claim. "Whatever for, Mr. French? Not trying to steal what's mine again, I trust?"

The former trade king's face darkened in fury despite the mottle pale and crimson in his sallow cheeks telling the tale of some phthisis sickness. "My daughter deserves so much better than a filthy beast. Had I had known how precious that cup was to you, I'd have smashed it into a thousand shards instead of handing it over to Regina." He seethed honestly between thin lips drawn into one angry line.

"And you would also be dead." Rumpel retorted with a calm acknowledging incline of his head towards the salesman like it was the most natural reply in the world. Oh but he would have screamed long and loud before the sweet release of death would have been granted him.

The Dark One would have broken every bone just as he had broken the cup by smashing it into nothingness; leaving every muscle, every tendon, every fiber of his husky being shattered all the while keeping him drawing breath after short, painful breath.

Maurice spat distastefully upon the clumped, dirt stained snow, his glare all but throwing poisoned daggers at the magical beast. "I didn't come to fight with you. Belle's in trouble."

Immediately, the Dark One let the half amused and mocking, plastered wickedly across his scruffy features, drop faster than the anxious feeling he felt plummeted into his belly at the foreboding words. Fear clenched at his shriveled black heart in its icy claws, wrenching viciously in terror.

Anything that involved his wonderful Belle and danger wiped a grin off his face quicker than fire melting away ice. Nothing was ever amusing about entertaining the unpleasant idea of Belle in peril.

A part of the fiend partially considered the salesmen words nothing but hurtful lies to stab at his fear and wariness, for nothing more than prides sake, but for all his faults, Maurice deep down still loved his daughter. Though to her dearest papa she had made the most foolish of mistakes by remaining with Rumpelstiltskin and proclaiming him her true love, the love of a parent was something anger could not fully dampen. There would always be an ember alive that would burst into a flame of protection for a child no matter how old. Of that Rumpelstiltskin knew imperatively.

"Speak." He snapped dangerously, his whiskey brown eyes aglow with alarm and fire building in his blood to kill anyone who dared lay a finger to his tender Belle.

While the beauty controlled his temperament and anger with her soft words and gentle touch, all who dared lay harm upon her saw first hand the savagery so prevalently simmering inside. Her pain and agony unleashed the monster lurking in the shadows of his soul and woe betide anyone who inadvertently sought to unchain that savage monster.

Maurice's sagging jowls wobbled as the story came tumbling out between racking coughed. "I overheard Regina say something about having a thing Belle no longer did and that it would keep us here forever. Look, I don't know what it is, but knowing Regina it can only spell trouble for my daughter. And I know we have bad blood, but if you care for her as much as she is under the illusion that you do, you will get back whatever the queen has and restore it or make things right!"

"What does that vile harpy possess?" Rum lurched forward unsteadily as though the news had dealt him a blow to the gut.

What could the sordid witch have so utterly profound it would make one of her last supporters find his most hated foe and vie for a temporary alliance?

The salesmen held his calloused, thorn pricked hands akimbo, his face truly blank and at a loss telling the Dark One through the lines pounded upon his bloated face he wasn't trying to betray or trick him. "I don't know! Would I be here asking you to be her hero if I could have done something to make her see you are not the…thing she thinks you are?"

Rum snorted and rolled his eyes. "That point is moot. You were always a useless waste of breath. Your daughter had to sell herself to me to buy your people's victory because you were an insufficient ruler. You couldn't do anything to save her then, and you can't now."

The flower salesmen opened his mouth to snarl a cruel retort, but bit it back stalwartly at the last moment. Swallowing the words and his pride he allowed the jab to slip by without rebuff. His face was dotted with chilled sweat, and had lost its ruddy, clammy hue to a ghastly white. "We don't have time for this! Belle is in dire peril and here we stand cawing at one another like selfish magpies over a shiny bauble!"

Even though Gold loathed admitting it, Maurice had a point. His temper had always managed to fog what truly mattered even know he could sense darkness goading him to strike the portly aging fool and release his pent up rage and frustration in not being able to track down Bae instead of dealing with the burning issue at hand.

"You're right." He replied instantly, forcing himself to ignore the fact he hated the man wobbling before him. "Belle's safety outweighs our quarrel no matter the circumstance." Making a motion with his cane to the street, the Dark One beckoned to the direction of the town square. "Lead on."

~8~8~

A sly smirk bloomed unbidden to Regina's scarlet smeared lips as she reclined lazily in her burgundy armchair. Hunkering down comfortably in the leather, the seat felt more like a throne than anything had in many, many years.

Her victory was close now, filling her with a supreme high that flooded her veins and left her mind boiling with thoughts of royalty again. After she won, she would change the title from mayor to majesty again, Regina made a mental note of that as she let the pleasant thoughts roam unbound about her fertile mind.

Dusk was beginning to set in the misty west meaning French, as planned, was to have lured the sinister imp back into the entangled web that was Regina's games. After she had intentionally let him over hear a small portion of her brilliant plot, it was instinct the last love he felt for his daughter would pathetically rise within him.

Of course she could have taken any course to present Gold with his loves still throbbing heart; even presenting it on a silver platter, but with the night falling fast and the thought of Belle in dire hazard Rumpel wouldn't give anything so much as a second thought no matter how brief.

Once he saw that mass of flesh twitching so pitifully in her grip with its laconic beat, he would be on his hands and knees pleading for his loves life; willing to give her anything to spare his Belle.

Her dexterous digits tapped rhythmically against the plain box, which held the heart of Belle, in a little victory tattoo that took her fancy.

"So easy." She had to chuckle. Something so primitively simple would damn their world forever and all who dubbed Storybrooke home for good.

"Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly." Regina snickered at the rectial of the famous line that seemed to dictate the trap laid out so unspeakably perfect.

Perhaps that's why that tale had been one of her most favorite stories in literature in this worlds. A cautionary prose of cunning and deceit and in the end absolute triumph had always taken her fancy.

Tenting her fingertips together lightly, the wicked witch turned from the desk and the crackling fireplace to stare at the huge double glass window behind her. The snow was coming down in huge gusts, blanketing the town over with the crystal of frost and freezing what little hope remained.

Soon, so very soon, she would have all the flies caught and waiting to be devoured.

~8~8~

What could Regina have that would harm Belle so that her loathed father would band up with him? Rumpelstiltskin wondered anxiously as he pulled his thick jacket about his wiry body tighter to combat the biting crystals of ice stinging him like tiny needles.

The hated pair tramped up the snow caked stairs leading to the darkened town hall sitting in the middle of the turmoil and magic laden shire.

The vile sorceress hadn't been at her place of residence, or at her office, or any of the usual haunts she proliferated. The last place she would be was at the quaint town hall perhaps working on something dastardly.

Maurice dabbed his sweaty brow with the back of his woolen gloved hand in unabashed worry. "This has to be where she is. I wouldn't know where else to look."

"I think you're right." Gold sniffed the frigid air deeply, his eyes closing whilst his mind focused on the image of Regina. "I can smell her magic, so full of hate and disgust it's the stench of a corpse."

Grimacing, the former flower salesmen clamped his jaw in a determined fashion. "Good. She won't do anything to my girl if I have a say in it."

A small smile twitched at the very edges of the Dark One's lips as the pair marched up the wooden stair case cautiously. "On that, Mr. French I say we are of one accord."

Never would they desire to see Belle harmed.

The town hall hadn't been used since the sheriff's debates what seemed like another lifetime ago before the curse had partially been broken. Fine dust covered the dark oaken benches and creaking wooden floor while the navy blue drapes over the windows remained moth eaten and shut out for the rest of the world.

All the way at the front, the podiums still stood how they had at the debate and even the streamers of gold and blue still remained taped upon the wood though some sagged while bits and pieces had been nabbed away by expedient mice for nests.

The air was moldy and cold like some old crypt not trod upon in ages. The only thing missing was the tombs and it would have been the perfect place for burial in the dead of night.

"Stay alert." Rum hissed warningly to the blundering Maurice who tripped over loose wires pathetically strapped to the floor.

While the eyes of the Dark One rivaled that of dragons in any light, the mere human French was wandering blind barely able to see the shaded silhouette of the infamous fiend walking in front.

There were people in the building, of the he was sure, the only question remained was how many and who. His bat like hearing could make out short, excited breaths, but not much else to give away who could be calling the place home for the night.

A foot lightly placed upon the old creaking wood, made the Dark One pause his stalking pace and tense like a wary animal now finding out it was not the predator, but the prey itself.

Moe nearly barreled into him, but managed to stop in time so they remained completely silent and enshrouded in the grateful darkness that hid their respective forms."Some one is trailing us." Gold whispered to his unintentional ally. "We're going to ambush them in 3...2...1..."

Magic flickered upon his hand like a lighted torch. Instantly the entire hall alit in blinding white radiance to stun the predators that had so unwittingly become the prey, but in the slow ever changing dance of tracking, found themselves the ambushed.

A female voice cried out in the confusion. "Get the witch before she can move! Tackle her if you can!"

"Belle, Sheriff Swann, Mary Margaret?" Maurice stared in shock of the three women he recognized standing before him. To the exit, the wolf woman, Ruby was milling about in confusion as she battled for the door.

The three females swung wildly in their blinded attack. The blows were easy to miss, but filled with a desperation that told the magical fiend they were not there simply for anything. He could locate a desperate soul, and at the moment all four exuded such as though they were at their wits end.

Of them all, Belle should have been the least worried, and yet he could feel a desperate anxiousness radiant off her like some kind of heat.

Padding swiftly over to his love, the Dark One banished the confusion from her eyes with a quick flourish of his hand. Supporting her gently in his arms, he felt a calm relief wash over him knowing she was still alive and safe, despite crazy old Maurice's ominous words.

He kissed her temple lightly. "Belle, what in heavens name are you doing here fumbling around the town hall in the dead of night?"

"Me?" A small mirthless laugh escaped her mouth. "What are you doing here creeping around like a ghoul? I thought you were Regina!"

"I was surprised myself." A cocky voice echoed along the balcony of the town hall in a sordid chuckle.

Sinuous tendrils of dark magic swirled up from the podium stand curling into a cocoon of ebony evil before the vile witched appeared before them all. She was dressed in her normal attire of a dark business suit, though radiating a sort of superior as she looked down her aquiline nose upon them all.

A wide, triumphant grin stole upon her face, for in her right hand beat the bloodied heart of Belle clutched firmly in her grip while in the other was a scroll of time old parchment. The paper was frayed and yellowed about the edges, but powerful magic hummed upon it and wafted about the dank air, with a sickly sweet perfume.

She shrugged nonchalantly at the suddenly inhabited town hall. "But, I suppose this all works out for the best." Her head swiveled to the ashen faced Dark One whose mind was just putting the terrible pieces together and drawing the horrid conclusion. "Besides, you know how I adore making grand scenes before I am victorious; don't you, Rumpel?"


	24. Perils of Love

_A/N: Thanks all you stupendous people for taking the time t read and review! Warning, this is a long chapter, but please bear with me! :3_

**~8~8~**

Nobody spoke in the eerily illuminated town hall brightened by undulating globules of magic strung upon the raftered meeting vestibule. The inky black of night and the gray of snow falling heavily upon the world was pushed far into the corners so that the glowing embers of power left nothing in the hall shadowed.

Not a breath stirred from those staring agape at the evil witch who stood upon the podium gazing haughtily down upon them with her insuppressible air of superiority and passionate hate.

A surreptitious smirk etched upon her pallid mouth in abject triumph; letting the moment sink in like rain water did upon the thirsty spring earth. Her raven hair fell over one eye, like some malicious veil as she sauntered up to one of the podiums. She appeared akin to some heathen priestess addressing a stunned congregation as her gaze scanned the frozen souls before her.

All eyes were wide with alarm as she toyed carelessly with the two articles in her grip that would assuredly damn them all forever to their existence in Storybrooke with her as their puissant ruler.

Rumpelstiltskin slowly, as though rust had grown over his bones, turned his head back to his wonderful Belle in insoluble dread. His chestnut depths searched the russet haired beauty, hoping, praying, and pleading to whatever deity would take pity, the thudding heart in the vile sorceress clutches did not belong to her.

He stared at her forlornly, his bottom lip quivering tremulously as he placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder simply to make certain he was not in some realm of nightmare. "Does…does she…" He swallowed hard, his timbre cracked and voice choked with turmoil.

"Rum, listen to me." Belle laid her hands on both sides of his face, forcing him to stare deep into her azure orbs that encompassed her entire existence. She brushed a strand of his dirty brown hair away from his face tenderly, longing for the gesture to be condoling.

Tears misted in her startling cobalt eyes, yet she forced them back and remained gazing strongly at her true love. Her thumbs traced across his rough stubble cheeks as though trying to dictate his feel to memory. "Rumpelstiltskin, no matter what she threatens you must not bargain with her. Please, don't doom us to this existence for me."

"Don't listen to her, Rumpel." Regina interjected smoothly with just a hint of a wicked bite, her voice laced thickly with cruel disgust at the display of emotion so prevalent before her.

They all became so wretched and weak when love was put in the precarious balance of right and wrong. Their hearts melted to tepid puddles in favor of the cold fortress of ice that made them strong and unbreakable and powerful. Such witless little fools to let their souls bared and open for any to claw and gash and rend asunder.

To emphasis her point, the incorrigible witch curled her magic laden, manicured fingers tighter about the throbbing mass of crimson tinted flesh. In response, the heart lurched precociously as streams of black magic crackled against it thudding sides.

A hiss of agony sailed from the assiduous Belle's lips as she instinctively clutched at her hallow chest where her heart should have beaten. Her clever fingers grabbed painfully at her blue jacket as her knees buckled and she tumbled to the floor in a heap of torment and determination.

Ringlets of dark amber curls shrouded most of her face, but still she forced herself to stare up at her true love. The wet of scalding tears gummed strands of her long tresses to her face, and yet she shook her head in defiance. Her mouth whispered the words of strength and courage even whilst she writhed in pain upon the dusty, splintered floor.

"Stop! Stop it! You are murdering her!" The Dark One roared in desperate pleading towards the vile enchantress squeezing irrepressibly.

Falling to his knees, the magical fiend scooped his cherished love into his arms. He held her close to his wrenching heart that bled for her, hoping to comfort his beloved in what little way he could.

Regina allowed a small, sanguine chuckle to press pass her lips. "Not only that, Rumpel dear, but torturing her in the process." She shrugged nonchalantly and fiddled with the beating lump of flesh in obtuse boredom. "To think, the last thing she will see is the blood red of agony before deaths sweet sting to free her from pain."

It was then Gold turned to her fully, as though her words had been a dousing of cold water to his stunned senses. His muscles felt frozen as did his brain as cradled his dying Belle close to his weeping heart. Sweat already pricked and brooked from her forehead and streamed down her porcelain features as she bit back the cries of pain stoically.

He tenderly brushed his knuckles against her fevered cheek, as though the action could take away all her ills. How he dreaded beyond all things to see her there, helpless and bound to torment, no thanks to that craven witch.

Her eyes were screwed shut tight to fight back the tears as she pawed vainly at his dark crimson silken shirt to keep him rooted and pay no heed to the diabolical sorceress professing her ultimatums.

"What do you want?" He inquired lowly without turning his head to the preening harpy all but gloating over what she considered her final victory.

Emma padded a hard step forward to the Dark One, her face creased with understanding, concern, and yet extreme alarm. She held her hands up beseechingly. "Whoa, Gold, you can't…"

"You can stay out of it." He snapped his head up and snarled lowly through grit teeth; every word a hard cut of steel and ice. His eyes shimmered with a desperation that had not been seen since he had first become the Dark One those eons ago in the misty forest.

One of his wiry hands held his loves head while his dexterous talons flecked the faintest of purple. The mottled shade dappled upon his loves pallid features, relating his warning far more than his snarl ever could.

Mr. Gold, the clever, the manipulator, the conniver no longer stood before them in the alit town hall. In his truancy, the Dark One, the magical, fiendish imp stared at them all ready to do anything to keep the one he cherished with every part of his withered heart, secure and drawing breath.

Thankfully, Snow, perceptive of the ancient beast she saw transform before their eyes, grabbed Emma's red leather sleeve and tugged her daughter back with a jerk of her arm, knowing what desperation fueled the magical beast and what fear held his senses enthralled.

Like an injured animal trapped in a corner, he was more dangerous than ever before with nothing to loss save the woman he loved if things did not go accordingly and play to Regina's fastidious tune.

"What would you ask of me, Regina?" He swiveled his head back to the repugnant witch. His voice was nothing more than a coarse croak, frantic to see the precious woman he held close to her heaving chest safe.

A wicked smirk beamed upon the monarch's ruby painted lips in triumph. With a languished flick of her wrist, the scroll in her grip fell loose to tumble open and display its writ.

The swirling, elaborate writing scrawled upon the yellowing parchment glittered dark purple and black. Each word had been carefully inscribed by magic, studiously penned with the utmost care faring upon that of a master scribe. His scruples had always been meticulous concerning any and all magic's he wielded. Along with his power, the Dark One's penchant for the gaudily flamboyant had always been a weakness.

Placing the parchment down upon one of the podiums, she eased her grip over Belle's heart just faintly to let the Dark One's attention be fully upon her and not the woman writhing in agony nestled in his grip. "You know a little sea witch revealed to me that you had the exact same quill that wrote the words to my curse."

"Don't pay any heed to her, Gold." Emma blurted tenaciously, her sharp mind just putting the pieces together herself and what Regina was hinting at. Alarm flashed in her eyes as she protested. "Belle wouldn't want you to."

A growl of rage rumbled from between the lips of the Dark One at the words he knew in the terrible pit of truth in his mind was correct. Flares of purple magic shot out of his hand, aimed directly for the curse breaker.

Immediately, chains formed of silkily purple magic coiled about her wrists and middle as though they were alive. Emma screamed as she collided with the wall, the magic effectively pinning her there.

"Where were we?" The witch drawled in mock pleasantness as though nothing of the sort had occurred. She squeezed Belle's rapidly drumming heart like a stress ball, making the beauty howl in pain. "Oh yes, the curse and your quill. Now as we know curses, much like deals can be…rearranged if the owner of the curse does not wish for the magic to be broken. So what I want, Rumpelstiltskin, for this…" She paused and sneered in disgust at the contracting heart. "Price of worthless flesh and tissue, is one thing; rewrite the curse to my exact specifics."

Slowly, Rum fixed his gaze away from the russet haired beauty he held protectively back to Regina. His weathered brow wrinkled in panic. Such a price was a pittance to save his beloved from the icy talons of demise. "Oh course-."

"No!" Belle managed to gasp from between her trembling lips. Her fist grasped at his maroon, silken suit and pulled him close with what little was left of her ever dwindling strength. Her moist breath buffeted his cheek like a warm breeze on a summers eve as she whispered in intermittent laborous gasps into his ear. "Don't. Be brave, beloved, don't give…" Another scream fell from her throat killing the words he knew his Belle, so brave, would speak.

The Dark One looked down at the beauty hoisted in his arms, the pain she felt laced upon her normally placid features, now streaked with torment. His heart gripped in misery as though experiencing the pain with her in some way.

Here she was, dying in his arms and begging him to be brave? Did she know she loved a pitiful craven churl who had never done a brave thing in all his years? Bravery was an utter impossibility. She could have asked for anything, and yet she chose the one thing magic could not compensate for; could not bolster his scant resolve.

"There are many things in this world and the last I could do, Belle-of-mine." He voice was a tremor of a cracked whisper as tears rolled down his haggard face. Stroking her heated cheek with the utmost tenderness, he shook his straggly dirty brown hair he hugged her tormented body close. "But bravery is something that has always eluded me."

Turning his head away to not look upon her pained features, the magical beast nodded respectfully to the vile queen. "A deal we have. I shall rewrite what you wish in return for Belle's heart."

Inside, the fiend knew how her disappointment welled, but he couldn't let her die for those that hated them unrepentantly. Her sacrifice was not worth a golden shrine pluming over the ranks of the dead that would crumble in centuries to come and her deeds to fade into the annals of mist and forgotten legend.

No one was worth him having to live eternal with the knowledge that he had lost Belle, not once, but twice, and she had died in his arms trying to be a hero and deny a horrid fate from befalling the land.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Regina's body leaned against the podium, her smirk transformed into a full blow sadistic grin.

A thinly plucked brow perched as she watched the Dark One lay his love down gently upon the dust, slightly damp wood floor and slip off his jacket. Balling the expensive garment carelessly, he placed it under her deep amber locks before shaking his head.

"Forgive me, my heart; I was never endowed with the warriors courage your bare so proud." Rum beseeched his love solemnly before rising to his feet. "You know me far to well, your majesty." He sighed ruefully in defeat and stroked his tormented beloved's heated forehead with a saint's softness one last time.

"You show much tenderness to her." The vile royal observed stonily crass. An arrow of sudden regret pierced her anger poisoned heart as memories of her Daniel resurfaced in her mind at the tender gesture like risen figures from the grave.

Her stable boy, so loving and kind, would have done something much the same, had it been her at the mercy of a sinister witch. Stoically she shook the thought away, forcing herself to relish in the luminescence of her triumph, and let the glory bask upon her darkened heart. This was her hour of victory, not a moment of contemplative remorse!

"Even beasts can love." Rum murmured humbly as he slowly ascended the dais to the pulpit. The steady rap of his cane upon dusty wood, the magical purple conjured chains jangling around Emma, and the heavy panting of his Belle was the only sound in the room as he stood face to face with the woman in possession of his loves fragile heart.

Only a rickety wooden stand erected for debates separated the pair, and yet it might as well have been a collar around the Dark One's neck that Regina held in her maniacal grip. She held one of the only two things in this world or the last he cherished dearer than life divine.

Standing in his normal pose with his cane planted in front of him, akin to some broad sword of old, and both leather gloved hands curled over the gold handle of his ash wood cane whilst he glared murderously at the woman who held his treasure.

Flashing him an infuriating grin, she shifted a lock of her onyx tresses and tapped her darkly manicured nail to the parchment. "Where to begin." She snapped her fingers, a chortle rising from her throat. "Oh I know. Let's get the most important issue out of the way first. I want there to be no consequence for killing the 'curse breaker' Miss Swann so that there will no longer be a variable in my total rule."

The pair stared at one another for long moment after the declaration was uttered through hateful lips. Such a move would give Regina no staying power. There would never be wariness or caution with the only thing in her world that could usurp her lying on the floor in a puddle of her own dark blood and guts strung out like garland upon a mantle. While she might make other utile changes, she wanted that freedom to lash her magic upon the impertinent Miss Swann more than anything else in Storybrooke could tempt her evil will.

A sigh of abject defeat sputtered lamely from the Dark One's lips as he hefted up his ash wood cane aloft. The gold handle crafted in the shape of a dragons head, with a tiny ruby as an eye, seemed to scowl murderously at Regina, though the metal remained rigid and unmoving.

Handling the walking stick with care, Gold expertly twisted the neck of the cane where wood met gold. A small click and then a pop resounded across the hall as he tugged the handle off with small effort. Tipping the ash wood shaft down, his calloused hand caught the only thing that could change the words set by magic upon the simple parchment and twist the course of fate with the flourish of the pen.

The quill was a simply, deceptive thing, almost looking like a regular goose feather shed from the creatures snowy plumage and plucked from off the side walk by a curious child delighted my the puerile treasure.

In this world it might have seemed such, but in the last it had belonged to the alabaster plume of a Gryphon of no small power and magic.

He had nearly lost his life to the savage, mystical monsters rending talons, and sword sharp beak simply to pluck the quill from its pristine down, but it had been worth the scratched and scrapes and long oozing scars to cockily tote such a highly coveted quill and twirl it between his gray-gold talons to flaunt his cunning wiles.

Now, a scowl of disgust hammered upon his scruffy features as his calloused fingers smoothing along its soft ridge, he felt nothing but an empty revulsion well within and darken.

To think, to know, he had once tried to fill the gaping whole in his chest with paltry trinkets and baubles and trifles, when all that truly needed to make him whole had been the two people he had so cowardly let go of.

Oh such a wretched man was he, to cut away what made him live and wallow in some purgatory of self abhorrent.

"Please don't tell me you're having second thought, Rumpel dear?" Regina sniffed imperiously and squeezed the heart in her grip just a fraction harder.

How Belle screamed in pained throes! Her ghastly shrieks echoed about the town hall like some specters death howl wailing upon the winters wind, making the Dark One flinch as if a lash had struck his back. Her cries felt akin to a daggers edge slashing through his heart and twisting violently betwixt his ribs. The longer he waited the more pain the foul enchantress would befall upon his love.

He managed a tight thin frown of loathing, his eye dancing with heated rage. "Of course not."

The quill shook tremulously in his grip as he beckoned his ancient prowess to his call. With one quick movement the letters detailing the clauses of the curse were scratched out.

The lilac stained words illuminated briefly then hazed into intangibility then disappearance all together so that nothing remained save the yellowing papyrus.

Gold hissed at the feel of magic from the erased words drained back into his body as he blotted out one intricate part of the curse.

The feel of such power flooding through him momentarily made him inwardly reel in sweet delirium. Bliss of powers long abstained welled and roamed within his veins. Had he been so dastardly so wicked when he had etched the curse for ill means?

His spindly fingers tightly grabbed hold of the podium to steady himself from the storm of magic assailing him. The darkness inside of him suckled at the forgotten, great power of old he had once possessed, he had once to gaudily flaunted.

The rage and wretchedness that had given him strength beyond all others was terrifying to feel at its most prominent again.

Regina licked her carnelian lips eager, as though truly savoring her victory about to be set in front of her. "Now, write it." Her voice was low and whispered in a malicious hiss as she grabbed the sides of the podium. "I want it plain and simple. Dare double cross me Gold and your precious little slave girls heart becomes nothing more than warm ash in my hand. "She threatened in dire promise.

Swallowing hard, the Dark One nodded his chestnut hair in beaten obedience. Warily placing the quill upon the parchment, he slowly began to draw the words detailing what Regina so desired.

It was almost hers! Regina could have crowed to the snowing heavens and laughed in ruthless glee. Her eyes sparkled in wantonly cruel, owning delight as the purple words flared upon the scroll before dying down to glowing embers thrumming with magic so vile.

Soon, soon, she would have Henry all to herself with Emma Swann and her infuriating mother dead! The town would be forever cloaked under Regina's darkness and trapped beneath her heel of disparity and melancholy.

The wicked monarch eagerly loomed over the podium, her heart picking up its malignant tempo with every flourish of the pen. His impeccable handwriting missed not a beat sending her into a spire of ultimate victory.

Had she been paying more attention to her darkened surrounding in favor of starting at the Dark One's scrawled marking, all the while thinking her win assured, perhaps she would have noticed the short, yet stoically built figure slipping from behind the huge dark blue curtain of the back stage like some ghost of those she slew.

There, almost there! The horrid queen's muscles tensed into a thrilling taut where every nerve shook in excitement. She was all ready to snatch the piece of parchment out her grip and toss the Dark One the heart he coveted more than gold or wealth when she felt the wind knocked out of her from behind.

"Don't let her do it, Gold!" Grumpy roared warningly as he crashed into the sorceress.

His stubby hand wrapped about her waist to keep her pinned upon the wood so good could favor the night!

A seething scream of rage hissed from Regina's lips as she fought against the stocky, former dwarf's weight crushing upon her flesh. Coils of voided black magic thrust from her hand barreling into the chest of the foolish dwarf who leapt upon her in such a futile last gesture of redemption.

Leroy's arms milled everywhere trying to grab onto something as he sailed through the air at to the spectators seats. The crash of flesh upon the wood sang through the air in horrid tune. Benches harshly broke to dust and splinters as he fell hard upon his side. A sickening crack pierced the air where the hardy, repentant dwarf lay deathly still, his body warped into some impossible position of his fall.

The heart, once so tight in Regina owning clutches had been jarred by the cataclysmic collision. She lay on stomach upon the rough hewn stage, her hand outstretched, and yet bereft of its prize, that secured her life and triumph. The heart lay thudding wildly upon the steps and inches out of her reach.

In that instance several things occurred that carved the history of Storybrooke in stone. The Dark one threw the quill down and dove desperately for the heart before Regina could scramble up. And yet she was the closer of the frantic pair despite having to rise from the floor with lungs burning and skin bruised.

Desperately they both lurched for the heart, each gripping a part at the exact same instance. Fiery brown, met marshy green as their eyes locked hatefully unto one another in some dance of life and death.

"Finish dictating the scroll." Regina hissed commandingly, her fingers digging viciously into the trembling aorta.

"I did." Gold retorted lowly as Belle's screams rent and clawed the air once more. He bowed his slightly grayed head. "The words have been rewritten to secure my loves life and breath."

A slight smirk bloomed upon Regina's palled features as a chuckle of victory slipped demurely from her pursed blood lips. "Smart man you figured out she can't live with half a heart." Her teal gaze flickered to Emma still pinned to the wall as some prisoner of old who stared in sorrowed state at the broken dwarf in the debris of splintered pews. "Now, bring Miss Swann over there. I want to get this bit of business out of the way before we continue."

"As you wish." He murmured obediently, knowing the request before it passed the threshold of her lips.

With a flick of his hand, the Dark One dismissed the magical chains and prodded the sheriff to walk towards them despite her protest and will to be free of his vile powers. Magic poured through the pores of her skin and prompted her muscles into action and pace towards those that would see her dead.

"You can't let her win, Gold!" Emma shrieked through grit teeth and struggled defiantly, trying to pry away from his magic. She wriggled stoutly and yet the pull of magic made her pad over to them in quick strides.

The magic forced her to stand in front of Regina, her body stiff from the powers holding hostage her will of movement.

Regina barked a harsh, lurid laugh, her mouth twisting in sinister glee. "Oh please, Miss Swann, for once in your life just shut up and die."

Her hand stretched forth, the darkness culminating in her palm as she prepared to send the curse breaker into abject oblivion. Soon all would be set aright and the town would dance to her ditty one more.

It was in that moment, the Dark One let his magic's slip from her like a piece of torn clothing being pulled away from a body. Her fingers and arms begin to acquire free movement once more, letting the enchant slide away.

"Strike now, Miss Swann!" He cried in expectation, praying the curse breaker would live up to her title the townsmen had bequeathed upon her.

"What…" Regina whispered in surprise. Her magic faltered and sputtered from her grip just for a moment at the proclamation, long enough, even in that spilt instance of time, for Emma to jump into action.

The blonde didn't think, didn't plan her next move. On instinct she whipped the cold steel of her gun out of her holster and fired at point blank range into the Madame Mayor sensuous figure.

Smoke from the blast curled sinuously into the, moldy air as Emma slowly lowered the weapon to wait for the vapors to clear and show what her aim had wrought.

And there stood Regina rigid and tall. Her face was blank, and numb with shock. Both her hands trembled and quaked violently as she placed them to the gaping whole in the middle of her chest.

Her mouth moved stiffly, and yet no words sputtered past her ruby passage. Blood seeped darkly into the navy blue fiber of her suit as she toppled to the floor.

Emma stood almost in the same shock. Her head turned to Mr. Gold who cradled his loves heart like a fallen baby bird to fragile to fly. "How…"

"Leroy's display of bravery bought me enough time to rewrite the curse whilst she was busy in fending him off." Gold explained as he pulsed his magic through his loves heart to keep its beat steady continued in its paltry pace. His finger massaged the heart with the power that was draining from the muscles and slipping back into Regina as she died upon the floor like the monster she had long been. "I switched it to be that the curse breaker could kill the curse wielder and break the curse."

"Then why aren't we back" She queried insistently as Gold solemnly clutched the precious heart and raced over to his Belle.

He jerked his head back at Regina in disgust. "Magic is a powerful thing. The gun shot did not slay her. She is wounded, mortally, I wager, but I force her to still draw breath no matter how sparse or painful."

As if on cue, the once arrogant sorceress let forth a bloody hacking wheeze as her body twitched in fathomless agony. Glossy crimson fluid was beginning to dampen her cloths and pool under her. The tresses of her prim sable hair began to be sopped with her life's blood. Magic glisten to a pale fire upon her hands to attempt at repairing the fatal wound to no avail. She was perishing into the twilight lands beyond the mortal realms' dawn, and fast.

Breath wheezed hopelessly from her lungs that valiantly tried to suck in more air and yet failed miserably.

"I will be killing her in the future, just not now, not yet." He revealed passionately. Not when Bae was still out there. Oh, but she would suffer once he was located and then…then it didn't matter if they stayed of left back into their worlds. They would be together.

Giving the witch no more thought, the Dark One knelt down hurriedly to his love. Copious amounts of sweat drenched her small form as though she had been swimming or caught in a storms fierce deluge. Her cloths clung sickly to her, allowing the measured rise and fall of her chest to be seen prominently.

As long as Regina lived, so to would the heart that she had bound outside the person's chest. However, the rhythm was a weak one, looking akin to a small animal kicking in its death throes than a healthy young heart of a wondrous young woman.

Once the heart was back into its rightful place the magic would set things aright leaving her as healthy as she was before, but for now the going was perilous.

To pluck the threads that wove the magic Regina had so entangling entwined upon the heart and the chest would be a taxing trial that would drain his already fatigued store of power.

Pushing the thought away with a determined scowl, Rum knit his brow in concentration, his mind working to prepare himself for the task ahead. Magic of magnificent purple hue engulfed his hand. The sickly sweet stench of utter power crackled through the air like the winds of a storm about to break upon the silent, dark world of mystery and delight.

Placing one hand on the heart and the other on her slowly rising chest, he left his magic pour forth to her body and carefully removed the enchantment that kept her enthralled to Regina.

Sweat pricked at his furrowed brow as he grit his teeth determinedly. "I'm sorry, but I must reopen the wound." He apologized to Belle, knowing what torture she was about to beset upon.

The gut churning sound of flesh being hewn open wafted through the magic laden air. Her scream, one long, piercing shriek akin to a dying wolf meeting a terrible end rang upon the atmosphere in chilling clamor.

Ruby light of Regina's dastardly power shown from the reopened gash where the sorceress had yanked out the beauty's thumping heart to store as a bargaining chip for her sordid deeds.

Carefully, so very carefully, the Dark One deposited the heart, all the while banishing the vibrant, dark red glow that pulsed about the wound like dying embers in black night.

Veins, still a cyanotic blue pulsed with blood and arties writhed and strained upwards from the empty chest cavity like greedy hands to accept the heart stolen from it lofty seat. Immediately, muscles and tissue reconnected in their proper places once kissed with the feel of the heart for to long bereft of its host.

Her blood began to work through the heart; its pumping growing stronger and livelier as the magic of the sorceress was dispelled and banished and her body began working on it's own accord.

A small smile drew upon the thin lips of Mr. Gold as the heart finally rested in its proper niche in her chest. Already the crimson fluid was flushing through in its normal rhythm and her bosom began to heave at a normal pace.

Waving his hand over the wound, her flesh began to knit back together neatly till only a faint gray scar lay over her flesh as testament to what had occurred and how the throbbing muscle had been gouged from her body.

An exhausted breath fell numbly from the Dark One's mouth as he leaned over his love anxiously. He held one hand to her cheek, searching for signs of life. "Belle…?" He spoke her name as a solemn pleading singular word that revolved about his entire being.

For a moment nothing occurred. Her body lay still with only her chest in its normal inhaling and exhaling as she lay in a comatose existence.

Only a few seconds had passed of unresponsiveness, but for Rumpelstiltskin each heart beat was a thousand years, each minute an eternity in the tumultuous seas of nothingness and sorrow. A cry of desperation desire to fly past his lips as she remained still as a corpse. He frantically grabbed her hand and held it close to his heart, a kiss just barely brushing her knuckles that were still cold from being without her heart. Had it work-

Her eyes suddenly fluttered slowly as he mouth opened without a scream, but the curve of a weary smile.

"Belle!" He repeated once again, his voice cracked with emotions of joy and love and relief and happiness all swirling about him in some symphony of goodness and jubilation!

Carefully hugging her close to his body he buried his face in her mane of chestnut. Salty tears flooded unashamedly from his eyes as he felt the tension uncoil like the muscles of a snake wound about his heart.

She was alive and safe and breathing and conscious and there; he had not lost her to the dire circumstance or the taxing magic that had waned from his body.

"Rum." His name stammered happily from her lips as she weakly hugged him for all she was worth.

They were together and Emma stood there with her arms crossed staring at them. She was not dead, nor had Regina placed her lordship over the entire town. He had found a way to save her, save them, save all.

He squeezed her gently, reminding his ecstatic mind not to put any weight or pressure on her newly restored chest. "I though I was going to lose you. I thought that preening harpy would be victorious." There was no thought to watch his words or give away vital information of his doubt to those in the dank town hall. All that mattered was that she was safe.

Helping her rise to her feet, the russet haired beauty was immediately beset by her Papa who hugged her gently in his huge grip. "My girl, I though you had perished. I was a prideful, stupid fool. Forgive me for shunning you. I'm so sorry."

"Papa." Belle's voice felt strained from the exertion of merely standing. Still, she hugged him close, relishing in the fact he had seen the light even if it was nearly to late.

Though hatred for the Dark One still ran in the portly king's veins, the flower salesmen looked to the magical fiend gratefully. With one small gesture, he offered Rum a small nod of respect and thanks.

Suddenly, his beady eyes widened as he looked not to the Dark One, but past him as though to another time. Horror slashed across his face, immediately alerting the deceptive fiend something was amiss. Swiveling around, he to saw what made Moe French grown pall with terror.

Regina had managed to quietly scale to her feet. A thick streak of blood coated the wall she used to stand upright. How her legs trembled and wobbled, and yet she forced her chin to jut out and proud in her last spasms of defiance and demise.

Her lips, now a pallid scarlet, quivered in-between death that was denied her and rage blistering upon her mortally wounded form. Snarling in a feral state to the hosts in the town hall, her eyes pinioned up Emma. "Don't think you've won. I will not perish without spilling blood! Some one's heart shall break!"

With that, she forced the last great peal of her magic forth from her blood stained palm directed towards Emma Swann. There was no time to move, not time to think, just to stand there and be washed in oblivion.

For a moment, watching the blob of death meteor towards her and a murderous pace, the sheriff couldn't help but think of Henry and August and all those she had known and loved and how never again would she speak with her mother or father or see the home that she truly belonged in.

From the last act of vengeance her death would come quickly and lurid. In moments she would be nothing more than a streak of char upon a wooden floor and perhaps patches of her jacket that weren't completely singed into nothingness.

"Swann move!" The voice of Rumpelstiltskin cried out, just as the orb of deathly magic made contact.

The flaxen haired sheriff threw her arms up, only to feel a body in front of her. With a great heave she was thrown clear of the blast and towards on of the double doors leading out to the raging blizzard. Her eyes adjusted back to spotting black and blue dots, from the blinding flash, just in time to see the Dark One taking the blow against his back.

There hadn't even been enough magic in his body to move Emma out the way, the cunning beast had known perceptively, when he had seen what Regina had done.

No, there had not even been a sufficient amount to shield Miss Swann from most of the blow. In truth, he had only had enough left to rip away whatever kept Regina alive and protect himself partially.

He could have simply let Emma perish, after all she had done. He could have sat and watched at the magic engulf the sheriff and rip her very being into fathomless oblivion. And yet, for the first time in his life, he recalled the bravery his love had shone while looking into the precipice of death and thinking only of others. She had been scared, but stalwart and courageous…and brave.

Then it came without thought, without hesitation, and much fear brimming inside.

After he had clamped off the magic that kept the Harpy breathing he raced over to the sheriff and forcefully shoved her out the way of the titanic blow.

A hollow wheeze of a laugh escaped Regina's blood fleck lips at the sight. Blood gurgled in her throat as her eyes rolled upward in the back of her head and she saw death take her to her true love.

On the other side of the room, the Dark One staggered painfully. Such last magic the harpy had cast sent his body quivering with pain and reeling from the blow. He felt as though a whole had been ripped through his chest at such a tremendous display of power and deaths last granted bit of magic for Regina to seek her final revenge.

With a sharp intake of air, he placed his hands to his nearly numb chest, to realize it was not simply a feeling the magic had produced from the forceful blast.

Slowly, his head tilted down in shock to see a whole in his chest where the magic had managed to break through his weak barrier and spear through flesh and bone. The wound was the exact replica of the bullet hole stabbed through the dead witch's body.

Eyes widened in shock, the Dark One let forth a pitiful squeak of pain before he crashed to the floor in a bloodied heap of pain.


	25. What Once Was

_A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Much love and kisses :3_

**~8~8~**

"Rum!" Belle screamed frantically as she raced over to her injured love. Terror gripped her mind with its owning, knife-like talons, ripping ruthlessly at her normally strong sensibilities. Even under the magic powers of Regina she hadn't felt herself sink to such dire fear as she did watching her true love crumple to the floor like a tossed away rag doll.

Glossy dark crimson blood bubbled steadily from the pronounced wound gouged out of his supple, weathered flesh and bone. His blood soaked hands weakly covered the injury as if trying to keep his essence in his wiry form as more of the deep scarlet fluid seeped and stained his silken shirt of burgundy into a morbid carnelian hue.

The stench of Regina's last burst of fetid magic still wafted repugnant through the chilled air, nearly making those about gag at the vile reek pouring into their noses and leaving a foul taste upon the tongue. Her magic's had always possessed the acrid vaporous odor of month old corpses lying unburied.

One could not help but to think of a horrid demise with its noxious aroma still entwined upon the musty air.

Shaking such an undesirable thought askance from her bright, petrified mind, Belle fell to her knees at his slowly heaving side. The crimson puddle splashed in every direction at the motion, sending warm flecks of his blood to stain the freshly white washed walls in some repulsive tears of blood that oozed down sorrowfully.

The russet haired beauty tried to ignore the fact the blood was leeching from him every second that passed without relent. She had long ago witnessed the gallons of blood in the ogres war fallen upon her land, and knew rather clearly how much blood a normal person could go without before deaths hand pulled them into its shaded realm.

Her trembling hands touched the edges of the gushing wound, desperate to stop the flow that streamed like a babbling brook from his lanky form. Flesh and skin protruded in a gory mangled state from the disastrous opening in his chest, telling the beauty no amount of bandaging or compression upon the injury would suffice to save his life.

It couldn't end this way, the honey amber haired beauty wished so desperately to scream, she had to bite her tongue till she felt the warm, iron tang of blood fill her mouth. He could not die, not there upon the dirty floor of the town hall, around those that hated him. For all he had done, never had he deserved such a horrid fate.

Tears welled, hot and misty in her cobalt depths, but she fought them back with her last scrape of determination left in her still weakened form. "No, no, no, this can't happen, not after everything we've been through!" She protested against fate itself and what it had wove for her Rum.

At least when he had traded places with her in the cell, she had known him alive and healthy and well. When she had been banished from the Dark Castle, he was still the powerful Dark One, undefeated by any mortal man in all the realms. Not once through all their hardships had they been faced with such tragic destiny as what lay horridly carved in his chest.

True, Regina had lied about her death, and with all her incorrigible wiles made her appear a cold shell in the ground to torment him, but this…this could not be fabricated by the most cunning of fabulist. He was dying right before her eyes with nothing to save him; no hope, no promise it was all just some complicated illusion or lie.

"R…Rum…" Belle stammered again piteously, her will dissolving by the second with every ounce of blood drained from his body.

His warm chestnut eyes slowly pried open to see his love looming over him like some angle come down to gaze upon his final tortuous breaths. Perhaps it was the last pall of death, but right there in the town hall, her dark amber hair all disheveled and a streak of grime and blood across her tear stained cheeks, she'd never look more beautiful.

Not even under the titanic panes of the Dark Castle windows with the golden shafts of sunlight cascading through to dance upon her maple hair, and illuminate her porcelain features, did she seem as graceful and lovely as she did at that moment.

Everything that made the world beautiful dwelled inside her. Her warmth and kindness had always melted his frigid heart and made his snowed emotions bloom into a wellspring of goodness and hope when darkness wished to keep him cold and feral.

A weak smile twitched upon his graying lips. "Belle." He coughed her name in a bloodied hoarseness fondly. His blood flecked finger lifted to her face as he stroked her warm cheek tenderly as though trying to remember the feel of her skin. The peach toned flesh was so warm compared to the chill drawing out the heat in his body, coaxing it away into a land with no more pain. "Belle-of-mine." The fond pet name sputtered gaspingly from his mouth tenderly.

He reminisced about the day he had began calling her by the strange endearment. It had been a lazy spring afternoon without much to do and plenty of time not to do it. As he sipped his tea and reclined luxuriously, he couldn't help but watch her read by the window. There she sat, under the cascading rays, so absorbed in the book he had procured for her, she wouldn't have noticed if he had started doing cartwheels.

Sitting there with one hand holding his head, he had realized shockingly that the lovely woman belonged to him. Of course he had always known such, but at the moment it hadn't truly struck him so prevalently. He had a companion, an acquaintance, a friend, that would be all his own forever with no one to steal her away; Belle-of-mine.

She clutched his calloused hand zealously to her cheek as though trying to suffuse it with her warmth whilst feeling it grow colder and colder with every stabbing breath heaved sharply from his slowly rising chest. "Rum, listen to me. You have to find a way to use magic. Heal yourself, please try."

He had to do something, anything! Oh what would she have given to anyone who could spare the love of her life from such an end; her very last breath if that had been the fee to keep him alive.

"I…it's depleted." A racking wheeze painfully assailed his form. "Nothing left for me to use…" Swallowing hard, he allowed a paltry half chuckle to pass his blood tinged lips. "At least…at least I got to save you."

At least he had gotten to see her alive one last time before the dark waves of demise swept him away.

A sob of abject disparity blurted past her mouth as she placed her forehead upon his sopped, weathered brow crinkled in pain. "It wasn't supposed to go like this. We were to find your son and live as a family; oh Rum…"

At that, a gentle snort of humor fell from his ever weakening body. "Haven't you learned yet? Life doesn't go as we suppose it will. You inadvertently taught me that lesson in the Dark Castle."

Had she not yet comprehend that critical lesson those years in the foreboding stronghold when they had become far more than mere master and slave? When she had become more than another possession procured in a deal? When she had tumbled from atop the ladder to free the drapes and spread light unto his darkened heart? Or when they had shared books in the monolithic library over cup after cup of warm tea? Or when he watched her dance with the fireflies, or even crafted her cloak?

She was to have only been a slave girl to keep his trinkets tidy and free of dust while to a lesser degree a companion for him to stave away the creeping loneliness of the ominous citadel stealing upon his eternal years, and yet they had blossomed into so much more than had once been 'supposed'.

Somewhere on the outskirts of the troubled, lamenting morass of her mind, Belle faintly heard the muffled words of a stunned Emma and see the hulking wolf form of Ruby, from the corner of her eye, take off into the driving snowstorm pounding the whole of Storybrooke with its curtains of stinging flakes and sleet.

It was like she was stuck in a marred, smoky world where only her and her slowly passing beloved existed. All other life fell into some hazy back drop where words were foreign and every gesture made little sense.

Cold air pounced through the briefly open portal infusing the room with a bitter chill, but such bite of frigid atmosphere paled to the icy dread inside the beauty who knelt down looking upon her dying love in his last strained moments.

A few bitter crystals of snow swirled into the room, but Belle never gave them a thought even when they sprinkled upon her dark amber tresses. All that mattered was the man in front of her, passing away slowly into the realms of darkness and the world beyond the light of mortality never to share a smile or a witty quip or his sanguine laugh.

Her pale bottom lip quivered indomitably as the tear broke through any amount of strength she possessed. "No, please, Rum, you can't die. I love you far too much to be away from you again."

To Belle, her love, her very best friend, her mate, her entire world was slipping away, and this time there was no magical remedy, no quest no bargain to be struck to repair the damage. Try as she might to grab at the fibers and threads of his life; all was for naught as they slowly slipped from her hands like sand shifting between her fingers the tighter she tried to hold on.

She begged him piteously; tears streaming unrepentantly down her paled features. "Please don't leave me, Rum. You're the only thing in this life or the last I cherished. Please don't go…I love you so much."

"Hey now." He smiled in that way that had almost always brought a grin sneaking upon Belle's lush pink lips. Now it only helped to stab the lance of pain through her newly restored heart. Brushing the flakes precipitation from the chestnut locks of her hair, he shook his head solemnly and shushed her gently with a finger upon her lips. "It's alright, beloved; don't weep."

Truly he did not want to leave her, but what more could he do? The deed was done, and now death stalked the corners waiting for his fight of will to end. He did not wish for her to weep when he departed, but only to remember him and the brief joy they shared through the years.

"How…how can I not? The love of my life lies before me with a mortal wound in his chest." Her tears fell in hot, scalding drops to entwine with his warm blood in last mingling. "Without you, I loose the half that makes me whole."

His heart twisted to see her in such strained mourning, but he brushed her scorching tears away from her porcelain cheek and bespoke gently to soothe her broken heart. "It's not forever beloved. This is not our final goodbye. It wasn't in the Dark Castle and it will not be at this moment. I will wait for you wherever death bring me."

"Promise?" A golden ray of hope broke through the dark clouds of turmoil. For now, it was all she had to cling to life itself, simply to bear his passing with the proclamation of meeting again.

"Have I ever reneged on my word, beloved?" Rum replied in a gurgled gasp of fatal breath. I would rip the lands of death apart to seek you when the time comes.

"Belle." A soft, yet assured voice pierced the dismalness in gentle tone like a feather upon the mild breeze.

The maple haired beauty did not turn to face the speaker, but stood staring at the man who fought with last will to stay in the realm of the living and give one another proper good-byes. "Mother superior." She announced staunchly in quiet, stifled sobs.

The fairy turned nun, knelt solemnly by the kind beauty's side. Smoothing her woolen coat with her tiny hands, she placed a consoling hand upon the gorgeous young woman's shoulder. "Ruby told me what happened. Rumpelstiltskin took the brunt of Regina's dying magic full force for Emma." She turned her head down to the pallid Dark One and sighed in something close to pity mingled pride. "For the first time in ages he has accomplished something brave."

"And…and now he is dying." Belle gripped his silken shirt desperately as though holding on to the last part of soul still lingering in the realm of the living. "Surly there must be something that can be…"

The Blue Fairy sorrowfully shook her head. "I can ease his pain; little else. The wound was meant to mimic Regina's own; a fatal blow with no recovery."

Another heart wrenching cry howled from Belle's throat as she bowed over him and buried her face into his straggly, dirty brown hair; her body shaking in mourning. His body still held the fragrance of his sickly sweet magic she had grown to adore in the Dark Castle.

Breath wheezed intermittently from his ever failing lungs, foretelling the end was irrepressibly close. Each inhale and exhale was fraught with pain, and ever shallower than the one before it.

With his last reserves of strength, he weakly grabbed the back of the beauty's head and pulled her down to his pallid, quaking lips. His ghastly palled lips hovered a mere fraction from hers in desirous want to meet them one last time before death's heavy shroud blanketed him as the snow did the hard ground of Storybrooke.

"This is so I can remember the sweetness of your kiss while I wait your arrival." He explained in a dying whisper so frail the beauty barely comprehended it through the noise of his sharp breath and the screaming wind unfurling its strength.

Tenderly pressing her lips to his own, they shared the last warm kiss of the man named Rumpelstiltskin.

So enchanted upon the long, good-bye kiss, sealing their final farewell, neither noticed the snow billowing out in the frigid world had taken a slightly lilac hue. As the driving flakes barreled harder down to the earth, the faint purple began to transform into a dark amethyst. Magic thrummed through the snow and about the world. How the air howled in tormented shrieks as power of a curse broken shredded the air and coiled upon the currents like a dragons injured wail of death.

"The curse, it's breaking." Snow exclaimed as the lavender magic fueled flakes picked up their speed until the world was nothing but a blot of deep purple surrounding the curse laden town.

At the proclamation, Belle perched her head up eagerly, a spark of hope alight her darkened, broken heart dampened by the end of her loves long life.

To her side, the nun was slowly shrinking like a piece of wet paper left out in the sun for far to long. Twinkling blue, diaphanous wings began to sprout from her back and flutter spasmodically like a butterflies wings when just coming out of its tight cocoon.

The entire world, it seemed was shrinking and spinning and turning and twisting, like a snow globe in a child's perilous grip as magic worked its wondrous power.

He had rewritten the curse, the beauty recalled aburptly. Regina's death was to have shattered the fetters of her hateful curse and send them back into their own world.

Things were transforming from this world to the last, Belle suddenly realized, Rumpelstiltskin had taken a blow to the chest, but in the last he had not. Perhaps, she hoped and prayed with what small bit of hope still clinging stalwartly to her shattered heart, there was a slim chance, and opportunity that he might survive once in their true home if only he could breath a little while longer.

"Hang on Rum, for just a bit more." Belle pleaded, hoping and praying to any deity that would ear her pleas, the thought would work. It had to, it was her last hope.

She shook his shoulder desperately to keep him awake, but he did not respond. Her brow knit furtively in the brimming, frothing terror wallowing inside her as he remained prone and still without so much as a twitch of response from her wounded love.

"Rum?" She shook him again to no avail. "Rum!" She all but shirked his name like the bitter howling of the wailing wind.

Before she could scream his name once more, the windows in the town halls burst into a million indiscernible shards floating slowly through the snow wafted air. Glass and magic and tears whipped through the wind as the hosts of living and dead were swept up into and undulating black miasma of lilac stained clouds.

A cry, more for the loss of her love than the powers of the magic, sailed from Belle's lips, but was stolen by the raging wind and crystals of snow as she grabbed on to his body, determined not to let go. A small part of her hoped, perhaps something heavy being tossed about the hall would end her life and there she and her love would finally be together once more.

Darkness suddenly washed over the inhabitant of Storybrooke like a veil of slumber, taking the inhabitants of Storybrooke where they truly belonged. Good and evil, brave and cowardly were engulfed in the maw of ravenous magic that worked its ancient task as the curse untwined and set things aright.

~8~8~

Belle awoke groggily with the sounds of birds tittering gaily in their morning songs high above her. The ground under her did not feel like a cold hard wood floor, but like soft moss and dead leaves of a summer's forest floor.

Her brow knit slightly in confusion as her body began to move at a stiff degree; her muscles straining in protest of being disregarded for so long in one position. A frown dipped at her lips as she struggled valiantly to remember why she was laying the forest on a cool summers morn?

Had she fallen asleep there, had it all not been but a dream and she was still in the forests of her childhood waiting for the pages and guards to find her for supper?

Inching her eyes open carefully to ward off any side effects of light, the beauty was greeted with the sight of shafts of morning sun filtering in through the openings betwixt the plumed branches of wet tress; their leaves bedecked with the diamonds of rain drops from a nights perilous storm. Pale mist wreathed the laurelled boughs of the towering trees making the honeyed beams of summer's dawn stream down upon them.

From what she could see from her scant vision, the earth was cool and radiant with the rich, flaxen light beaming sparsely from above and a light breeze carrying the tantalizing perfumes of heady earth and wood and flowers sprung up from the forest land entwining in one sweet fragrance to peel her fear away.

To her left she could hear a rustling from the season old leaves and a tiny voice groan as though having imbibed far too much ale from a night of carousing.

What had happened, where was she, and why were others surrounding her?

The curse! Her mind shot back to the last instance before the magic had washed over her mind and caused her to black out for heavens knew how long. Days, weeks, year; curses and spells did have a way of keep those enthralled in some stasis for long periods of time and then sometimes suddenly break upon their own.

Images of the evil queen being shot ran circumspect through her throbbing head. Scenes of winter snow and a heart being implanted back into a hollow chest all seemed to rise like mists from the dewed earth. She recalled distinctly Rum looming over her, and…

Rum.

His name burned through her mind akin to a fiery ray of sunlight shooting through her head like the bullet that had shot through Regina's sternum. They were back in their own world where guns had no existence. It was only logical one could not be dealt a wound by an object that had no semblance of existence in a world where no such weapon had ever been concocted! He had to be alive, he simply had to be!

Yanking her eyes open, she fought the urge to hiss in torment at the bright light assaulting her sense with its stinging brilliance. "Rum!" She yelled confusedly, her tone littered with desperation.

Staggering about the verdant forests menagerie of browns and greens and mulled oranges under her unsteady stride, she tripped over a still unconscious Ruby, but forced her self up from the black earth up to plow onward.

He had to be there somewhere, the beauty assured herself to keep her optimism bolstered. Perhaps he had awakened before she and had gone to seek shelter? Perhaps…Abruptly she paused in her foot tracks as though an arrow had pierced her mind at the sight before her.

There she saw him, upon his back, with palled face towards the cloudless firmament.

Leaves crunched numbly underfoot as she slowly lumbered to the still, bloody figure lying in one shaft of light that illuminated his stiffened form.

He looked tranquil or at a peace of sorts as though for once in his life he did not have to worry about deals and bargains and manipulation. There was no time to think if a friend held a dagger to stab him in the back or was a betrayal on its way. No, he seemed akin to be in a restful repose without a care of life's ills or hazards to hound him.

Assuredly, the whole in his chest was gone, but no breath flowed through his body. While the magical bullet hole was gone, death was irreversible no matter what the realm they called home.

Falling down dumbstruck to her knees upon the glades rustic carpet of leaves, she tremulously placed a hand to his cheek. It was colder than the sleet and ice of that night.

"Rum, my heart." Belle wept in solemn mourning as though her voice would awaken the dormant spirit and lead his soul back to his body.

But it was too late, the man, Rumpelstiltskin, was dead.

"You…you knew my Papa?" A strong and yet gentle voice asked curiously sad in the dense growth of the towering forest.

Footsteps padded warily under the canopy of towering woods like a hunter finding a strange creature wounded in the forest.

Slowly, Belle tilted her red splotched tear stained face up to see a young man in his late twenties stride towards her.

His shaggy brown hair fell messily about his eager bright brown eyes that scanned her intently over the body of the one he had dubbed Papa. In his hand was held a sharp rock that testified to him willing to defend the body against anyone who would seek to defile its sacredness to him.

Shifting a bit by her fallen love, Belle nodded lugubriously, fighting back the tears she thought would never cease to fall from the wellspring of her broken heart. "A-are you by chance Balefire?"

The clean shaven young man nodded precociously as he reverently knelt down upon the other side of the cold body. Like the man stretched before them, he too, seemed to have a good grasp about others just by looking at them to judge their intentions. "Yes. I was on my way to this place called Storybrooke when the blinding blizzard I was riding through suddenly became a dark purple. I remember just trying to see a few feet in front of the headlights with my windshield wipers slapping out on full blast. The next thing I knew I was here again lying upon the forest floor…"

He swallowed regretfully, his eyes turned in melancholy to the dead Rumpelstiltskin. "When I awoke, I was merely wandering about…then I found him here looking so peaceful, like I had never seen him not even when he was not the Dark One." Bae flickered his warm brown eyes, so much like his fathers to Belle curiously. "Did you know him?"

"Yes." The luscious beauty choked. A warm tear brooked down the side of her cheek. "He and I…we were…" Placing a hand on his still, blood soaked shirt, she curled her hand into a fist. "He was my true love."

Oh but had been so much more. Far more than mere words could express; more than the heart could articulate in what means it comprehended that fervent love.

Balefire turned his head away, looking at the dead leaved crinkled under him. A dour frown etched upon his features as he flicked a few flecks of dirt away from his fathers blood stained raiment. To think, even after all those years, his Papa had even managed to find a woman who loved him without reserve. "I…I…I'm sorry. He must have been dear to you."

A moment of silence past in the bright mornings glow, with streams of golden beams weaving through the verdant boughs before Belle sought the steady words to speak once more. Slowly, she placed a comforting hand over Bae's own, squeezing slightly.

"I think he would want you to know that for all his days in that strange land the curse took us to, he spent every day looking for you." She stated quietly, hoping the words would be something Rum would like him to know. "He desired nothing more than to make amends with you. To search for his -"

"Bae." Another voice finished numbly in shock. A voice, Belle thought held the sound of life itself.

For Belle, the entire world froze in its fastidious cycle. Time had no meaning in the coppice of cedars and pines and oaks towering about them with the lofts of birds in their widened branches.

A part of her that was still able to think properly thought the sheer emotion thrumming through her veins must have been what Rum had felt when she had walked into his shop those months ago. But it couldn't be…

Could the dead be called forth from their graves to hear the cries of a weeping heart? Surly the voice had to be an apparition, the one last thing they heard upon the whispers of the wind to remind them of the man they had cherished despite his faults and weaknesses.

"Belle…" The voice spoke again softly nearly in disbelief, making Goosebumps prickle against her alabaster flesh.

Turning about slowly, the beauty prepared to see a thin shroud of mist holding the last remnants of his essence before he bid them goodbye. Some magic that allowed him to see them one last time.

Instead she was met with soul piercing black eyes and gray-gold skin that glittered in the golden rays of days suffusing the glade with homely warmth. His dark, fathomless onyx orbs she had known so well, searched her diligently, as if trying to figure out if it was a dream he found himself in.

But it was real, so wondrously real!

It was the Rumpelstiltskin she knew of ages past. The one that had grown to be an endearing companion, who had bloomed slowly into her love.

Before her stood the Dark One.

A small grin snaked upon his thin gray lips as he perched a brow inquisitively. "Missed me, Dearie?" His voice a high trill, that had normally brought a small grin stealing upon her pink lips.

Air barreled from his lungs in one great whoosh as she wrapped her arms about him in a vice, determined if it was a grand delusion to fall whole hearted into its mire of glorious insanity forever. And yet she knew it all to be real, more real than anything in her life.

His scaled gray-gold skin pressed against her, his talons curled about her shoulders, all bespoke the truth that he was tangible and not formed of the vapors of a broken mind. "Rum! You're alive, but how?" She inquired joyously, her body suddering with abject relief.

"I was Rumpelstiltskin the human in the other world, beloved…" He explained gently. His arms wrapped around her lithe form in comfort as he buried his face into her dark amber mane. "Things have reverted back to the way they were in this land; what we once were. Mother Superior is once more the Blue Fairy, Leroy is now Grumpy the dwarf, and as surly as he was as a human. That Mr. Gold that you see there is truly dead, but I am back to being…"

"The Dark One." Belled smiled through the glistening of mist brimming in her cobalt orbs. Tears of joy coursed down her cheeks as she brushed away the straggly dirty brown hair from his gray-gold face. "You're my Rumpelstiltskin. The one I fell in love with…"

**~8~8~ **

_A/N: Not knowing too much about Balefire besides speculation, I didn't want to put a decisive bit of story about him. I mean he's really an obscure fellow at this point. Also, one more chapter to go!_


	26. The End

_A/N: So much thanks for reading and reviewing, hombres! Hugs for all :3_

**~8~8~**

"How so much changes in a year's time." Rumpelstiltskin murmured lowly in sheer, contemplative amazement to himself before taking a small sip of the blue drink in his grip. A year ago he would have hardly believed he would be standing as a welcomed guest of honor at the restored kingdom of Queen Snow and King Charming.

Many a time he often imagined himself three miles under the justly ruled citadel, caged in the magical prison that stripped away his powers and left him bereft of wily intimidation; a captive to not traipse around the world and cause mischief at a whim.

His onyx eyes furtively scanned the pleasant throngs of gaily dressed souls milling about the outer reaches of a grand ballroom or those upon the dance floor. Many took their time in jubilant celebration as they waltzed and curtseyed for petitioning dance partners and strode gracefully out upon the gold and blue marble. Their steps where light and their hearts full of happiness at the occasion.

Musician's dexterous fingers strummed and plucked their favored instruments in a light hearted jaunty tune that made the dancers whirl elegantly about in their menagerie of ermine and silks and wools like autumnal leaves swirling up in a zephyr. Those who chose not to partake in the dancing, stood to the side either fanning themselves or looking upon the dancers with a noble satisfaction upon their bright faces.

The ballroom was a masterpiece of legendary architecture itself. Each bit of stone and mortar to the very last monolithic pane had been carved and built by the sturdiest masons and users of magic in all the known realms to create a glorious hall for the nobles to fritter away special occasions especially dedicated to their emancipation from the magical fetters Regina had bound about their lives.

Columns of pure alabaster marble rose about the edges of the gilt room to support the vaulted ceiling emblazoned with gold and silver as a back drop to seem akin to some forest glade in late summer. Pictures of fairies and other wood land creatures, painstakingly painted, frolicked above them in some portrayed waltz of their own to mirror the learned cavorting of those below.

Golden candelabras and chandeliers guttered with flickering flames that swept and dipped to their own tune in providing the gathering light for the night's festivities.

The towering windows that allowed the bright sunlight or the calm blackness of a serene night to fill the room served to distinguish the light and dark of the outside battling with the multitude candles dipping flames from the inward.

To Rum, it was as though the velvet of night enwrapped them in its soft, silken folds so that the ballroom seemed the only monument in all the realms, and the stars nothing more than bright faced children staring at them through the monolithic panes in innocent wonderment.

Nestled in one of the slightly dimmed corners of the glorious ballroom, the magical fiend smoothed a wrinkle from his golden evening jacket to quell the trembling of his wiry talons and the nervousness brimming within akin to a witch's cauldron over boiling of its regents. He tried to contain his anxiousness, but that was as little more than futile endeavor.

Though his over all beastliness of gray-gold skin and soulless black eyes were impossible not to take note of, he was dressed rather finely in golden breech and a golden vest along with his golden jacket crafted of his finest magical thread. The only article of his raiment not shimmered in gold was the silver buckles upon his shoes.

By some miracle his straggly, dirty brown hair had seen a comb tortuously pulled through the matted, tangled mess to finish off what decorum that could be garnered for him.

A bitter frown pulled at his lips as he stared at the drink in his glass. The dark blue liquid reflected his features shimmering abhorrently in the candles light. No matter what he dressed in, there could be no hiding he was still a beast. Put a rabid wolf in noblemen's raiment and he would not be a gentleman.

But despite all that, he was still greatly astounded by how much he had improved in overcoming the beastliness that could not be seen by the outside of mortals men's eyes, and yet still greatly more impressed on how the realms had staggered back to their might in so little time.

In little more than a year's time, the realms had been set back into their orders of old. Snow and James ruled their realms and their land blossomed with happiness and prosperity and peace. Their daughter, Princess Emma was learning to govern justly and rule and become used to this strange new land that was as foreign to her as the curse born world that had been to them all.

Young prince Henry had become a squire to his father, Baelfire, who had been knighted one of kingdoms guardians. His son helped guard the land and keep it free of any wandering dragons, ravaging armies seeking spoils and blood, trying to steal their plenty, or threats encroaching upon them from other power hungry sources.

That was, of course, when Rumpelstiltskin and his boy were not patching their tumultuous relationship back together bit by agonizingly slow bit or when Bae and the prickly Emma were not wading through their morass of emotions towards one another.

Grumpy and Nova had gone into hiding after the treachery the desperate dwarf had wrought, but were also living their dream together somewhere upon the open waters of the realms where adventure awaited them.

No one could accept what he had done to sell them out to the vicious harpy for comfort and gain. But that night when he had provided the most critical distraction into saving their lives from being forever under Regina's iron heel of ruler ship and dominance had brought him a spec of clemency enough for mere banishment instead of other lethal punishments for treason.

The low hum of humans, and dwarfs and fairy's chatting and laughing rose in a dull murmur of warmth, and contentment to the vaulted ceiling. Everyone was in a high spirited, happy mood at the joyous occasion. Though a few untrustworthy looks had been cast in Rumpelstiltskin's direction, he had grown used to such flashes of hatred and despising that told the old tale of who he had been.

Two young lads, one young Henry and another known as Peter laughed as they darted between the legs of the nattily dressed adults in their childish antics of a game of tag to relieve the drudgery such balls bought to their young, irascible minds. Although they knew the important significance of the day, the boys couldn't quite yet fathom all that had been done and what powerful magic's had been in place and snapped asunder.

A thin, amused grin etched upon his gray-gold features as he took another appreciative sip of the heady blue beverage in his sharp nailed grip. The innocence of the thought that those new generations would never know the ravishing devastation that had once befallen their world brought a small chuckle to his lips.

On the other side of the room, his midnight onyx eyes spotted the curse breaker, with a large scowl upon her sharp face. Her fingers plucked and pulled at the ball gown sewn of bright ruby gossamer, which bedecked her feminine form, in rising unscrupulous agitation.

Such things had never been her style. She still much more coveted her old red leather jacket and beat up blue jeans to the woolen breeches and tunics of this world any day.

Shifting uncomfortably, her eyes scanned the crowd intently before she spotted him in the niche of the corner staring back at her. The flickering golden chandeliers above obscured most of his beastly features from the pulsing illumination, but it could not have been anyone else.

The look was almost one of a person who had experience the moment before; like a vision from a seer that had come to pass.

"Rumpelstiltskin." A steady voice greeted with a heavy modicum of respect, making the Dark One yank his attention away from the staring, Miss Swann.

Per his usual nature, the magical beast preformed a flourished, elaborate bow to the newly restored king of the realm. "Why king James, what do I owe the pleasure, hmm?"

A faint smirk of humor twitched upon his lips. "You know the deal, I and Snow keep tabs on your doings and in return you normally don't leave the confines of your land in the mountains."

Not that he actually wished to, the Dark One laconically reminded himself inwardly with a twitch of a smile. He had had more than enough of the sordid games of manipulation to achieve his own, somewhat noble ends. There was no more pleasure in seeing some one squirm in fear and terror at the sight of him or angrily do dealings for something they so coveted.

No, all he desired was to be left alone for the most part with his things and his darling Belle.

"I remember the deal, Dearie." He cackled introspectively so as to not make the humans about him nervous with his infamous high pitched giggle usually heralding trouble upon the horizon. "I can truthfully report no adumbrated, baby spiriting away deals that would doom our entire existence."

At that, the humble monarch let out a lurid laugh that bellowed pleasantly thought he filled antechamber. He inclined his head slightly to the Dark One, as he sobered. "That's all well and good, but I'd like to ask how you're holding up." Abruptly, he frowned dourly nay almost sympathetically to the devious magician. "A death is never something easy to get over with."

To see your own body dead before you must be a nightmare, many had, but never saw come to pass. What horrors could plague one with that image of their body cold and rotting before them ravage in their minds?

Rumpel nearly let forth a giggle at the truthful statement. While the thoughts and pictures of his body lying upon the forest floor was seared into his mind, he had the cure to supplant all his ills and fears.

He had Belle, and with her, nothing seemed too big to overcome. Hurdles shrunk to pebbles when she was in his arms, her kisses were wings to make him soar from all the remembrances of his vile deeds haunting the recesses of his ancient mind.

There was no better rock to keep him steady than the lovely beauty who graciously dubbed him her true love.

"Well, I haven't plunged off the edge of madness if that's what you mean." He quipped lightly, attempting to make nothing out of the inquiry but a joke.

James' light gray eyes twinkled slightly, seeming to read the words behind the retort so nonchalantly uttered. He opened his mouth to bandy a few more words with the Dark One when a golden specter of the herald rapped who announced the arrive nobles and well to-do's once upon the gold and azure floor.

Blood drained from Rumpelstiltskin's gray-gold, scaled face at the sound like the final peal of fate resounding through his entire world before nothingness engulfed them.

A respectful hush culminated over the ball goers who turned, almost as one entity, to the large golden stairwell at the front of the ball room.

The finely garbed herald quickly stepped aside so that no one could be viewed from the stairwell save the one descending from it marbled stairs.

James patted the paled, devious beast once upon the shoulder for encouragement. "Here's your big moment." He announced in a chuckle and slipped back into nearly obscure anonymousness of the pressing crowd.

Clearing his throat warily in hopes of banishing his anxiousness, the Dark One once again tried to straighten the stiff evening vest as his nerves reached their tremulous apex of tension.

Nothing felt right to him. He felt akin to a peasant once again in rags amongst all the wealthy and noblemen's waiting for the most precious, beautiful woman in all the realms to arrive and merely cast a fleeting glance over his scraggly figure.

He wanted with all his might to be calm and look assured as the Dark One of old, but he was just the opposite with anything concerning _her_.

Had it been another place and time, the irony would have made him break out into a series of giggles. Now it only made sticky sweat prick at the back of his neck, and his tongue to feel like a dry stretch of desert.

His gut churned in expectation and unbridled fear. Terror's icy talons clamped viciously over his sensibilities. No, he couldn't do this, not with everyone there looking at him stammer like a fool over her beauty. There was no-

And there she appeared at the top of the gilt stairwell, making all his insecurities flee from his mind like smoke ferried upon the winds gentle breath.

Dark amber hair cascaded simply down her bare shoulders. The flickering candle light caught in her coppery ringlets gave her almost a mystical presence to her already stunning beauty.

A golden gown sewn of the finest silk clung to her form elegantly; its small train trailing behind. Her only ornament was her mother's single pearl drop resting necklace upon her chest and the golden band about her finger.

Eyes of the purest sapphire hue sparkled like twin pools of tranquil waters placid and reflecting the light of the stars and the moon nested in the velvet firmament. Those eyes, how he adored them. He could have gazed into for all of eternity and never penetrated their intriguing mysteries locked behind the cerulean depths.

The crowd about the dumbstruck Rumpelstiltskin seemed to press away till it was only him standing upon the center of the marble gilded ballroom. He never gave their movements any thought, for his eternal ebony depths sat riveted upon the gorgeous woman he saw before him walking down majestically to stand in front of his lanky figure.

Standing in the radiance of her beauty, the magical fiend had a sudden urge to slink away out into the night with all the other horrid, hated monsters that stalked the realms and preyed upon the desperate.

What right did he have to pine for the woman only an arms length away; to offer her his entire, unworthy heart and pitiful affections that seemed so paltry and insufficient to him to give to one such as beautiful as she? She deserved far more than a beast who could never hope be a man again.

A shy smile bloomed upon her porcelain features as she flashed him a sanguine look that glimmered with as much nervousness as he felt stewing within. "I…uh…I wanted to wear something that reminded you of the first time we met." She explained to his stark blinking at her sheer beauty. She curtseyed deeply to her mate. "Do you like it?"

"You…I mean…there is…" Swallowing hard, he clamped a hand down upon his excitement and boiling trepidation. "Beautiful. That's what it is and that's what you are, wholly and completely."

Ruddy pink rose involuntarily to her cheeks as she stared down shyly. A small giggle that the Dark One absolutely adored passed her lips as she took a small step forward. "Shall we dance?" She queried mischievously, a brow arched inquiringly.

Rum offered a deep, solemn bow to his love, his wife, entire world. "Oh course, beloved. It is our anniversary."

A year ago to the date they had been wed under the forests green plumes in the evening sunlight. It had been a simple wedding with no fan fare and only a scant few souls and the cloudless sky above to witness the humble, rustic event taking place upon the world they had so long be banished from.

King James, once more being the monarch of his realm, had lorded over their ceremony and preformed the ancient rights. Though he hadn't known all the words to the ceremony that bound them as man and wife, what he adressed had been simple and kind to speak upon their nuptials.

Only Emma, Snow, Baelfire, and Henry had been there to view the simplistic exchanging of vows spoken from the heart at the impromptu wedding under the summer's canopy of the forest.

He could still recall the glistening sparkle of joyous tears in her eyes, as he took her hands solemnly in his own, and how she brushed a solitary tear away from his gray-gold cheek.

At the time he had no ring to slip upon her finger, nor had he desired to test the bounds of the magic he still felt burning through his veins and galloping with his black blood, but Belle cared not for such things. Just to know they were together, finally, bound by love and promise had been more than enough for her. His smile and devotion was worth more than a rounded piece of gold to signify their union.

Once James had uttered the last words for the ancient ceremony, they had both taken the plunge to see what would happen once they kissed. Despite fears and wariness and malignant darkness screaming to him from their strongholds in his mind, he was determined to kiss his wife no matter what came. He had already spent too much of his life ruled under the cruel lash of fear; a slave to the ever looming terror of losing his power and the thoughts of betrayal by everyone he loved. By heaven itself, he had sworn that he would kiss his wife despite the terror of the unknown.

Their lips met passionately in the bubbling eagerness of newly weds allowed to finalize the ritual of their love. The kiss was both tender and excited as though it was the first true kiss they had shared in eons. For long moments they remained locked in the eternal seal of their love, and no change had over taken him.

Perhaps it was due to the curse having no where to go, since the man Rumpelstiltskin was dead, or perhaps it was a new magic altogether. Whatever the reason, he remained the Dark One, the gray-gold scaled imp; caught with unimaginable powers and a temptation to wield them.

It was the Dark One that Belle had first found her true love with, and had grown to adore from the oddness of his discolored flesh and piercing onyx orbs. The beauty of flesh and features was irrelevant to her, she had whispered to him on their wedding night lying under the cowl of the satin firmament and its host of twinkling stars as their bed chamber.

He could still remember the tips of her fingers tracing the patterns of the gray-gold flesh and the rough texture of his skin as she peered at him in the darkness from their messy nest of cloaks and last season's leaves.

She saw the Rum beneath the scaled exterior, and no matter which skin he possessed it was he that she loved with all her being.

The road to a new life and redemption had been hard, and was harder still, but they worked side by side to vanquish the darkness and banish its foul hold that sought to clutch at his mind and control his passions. Not a day went by he did not have to fight the coaxing temptation of power, but she was there step by hard step to bolster him when he felt drained and defeated.

But tonight, none of that mattered. Tonight, there was no magic simmering in his veins to cull. Tonight they were celebrating what they had gained; what their lives had finally bloomed into after so many long years of separation and rejection and fear. Tonight, they danced.

Slowly, the Dark One lifted on hand whilst the other fell modestly to her hip as though she were some rare, fragile glass treasure he had to hold with the utmost delicacy.

She lay her hand tend tenderly in his upraised own, the other falling about his shoulder.

Soft music began to rise from the instruments of the troupe hidden in the balconies above the ballroom floor.

The sweet notes drifted down upon fragrant air alive with the aroma of blossoming roses as he took the first tremulous step.

Their fluid movement swayed in rhythm to the wondrous chords being plucked from the instruments. Left, right, back, right, forward, their steps in sync just as their rapidly thudding hearts drummed in steady tattoo to the music.

"Do you remember the first time we danced?" Rum smiled lovingly to his wife as he pulled her closer to his wiry form.

She looked down bashfully to hide another plume of scarlet mounting in her cheeks. A small laugh tumbled from her pink lips. "You uh, you caught me singing while I was dusting your collection."

Her mind fell back to that time as he appeared in the main hall right at the end of her bucolic tune. How utterly embarrassed she had been to having been caught in the throes of singing while she labored. Never before could she recall her cheeks feeling afire as his eyes radiated humor and searched inquisitively as though finding another layer to his dutiful slave he had never known existed. No one had ever made her seem so open and nervous about herself than her Rum.

"That's right." He nodded and twirled her so that she became a dazzling whirlwind of lace and gold in his sable eyes. Bringing her back into her arms he tenderly pecked a quick kiss upon the edge of her lips. "We got on the subject of dancing and I believe you struck the challenge."

"We were so awkward, in one another's grip, and yet so…comfortable all at the same instance." Belle chimed in as they swayed in time to the tune of the musician's slow rhythm.

His thin lips twisted into a mischievous, admitting grin. "When I pulled you close to avoid that sword pedestal and you stepped into me at the exact same moment I thought my heard would cease to beat."

No one had been so close to him in ages, and of all people she had sent his heart bashing wantonly against his chest as though it wanted to break free.

Belle could not repress a quiet chortle at the confession that matched her own she had kept tucked away in the corners of her heart when thinking about their days long ago as master and servant. "Looking back it seems so glaringly obvious we were falling in love." She sighed dreamily. "Why don't you think we saw it until the very last moment?"

"Who can say?" Rum heaved his shoulders slightly in a shrug. "Even the wisest of men are baffled by love. And in truth, I don't care why it never dawned upon us that we were slowly growing to cherish one another." Brushing away a rebellious tendril of her thick chestnut mane, he stared at her with voided onyx eyes filled with more love than could be expressed with mere words. "All I care for is that I am here with my love."

A smile stole upon the beauty's face at the declaration. Sighing contently she placed her head upon his shoulder as they twirled and spun slowly about the room. "So am I, my heart, so am I."

At the gesture his heart picked up its ancient tempo. She always made his heart somersault when she was near. Her touch could weaken him far more than magic in all the realms combined aimed at his power.

Burying his head into her russet mane, he inhaled a long, slow breath of her fragrant essence of honey suckle mingled with the scent of his sickly sweet magic.

As they danced with all eyes upon them, they both had no doubt all eyes were stapled upon them.

Be they looks of kind satisfaction or hateful disgust mattered not in the slightest to either of them whilst enwrapped in one another arms; so close their hearts seemed to beat as one.

No one could whisper or snarl anything to dissuade them from what they felt in their hearts, and what they felt for one another always and forever. Words could bite and sting and snap, to attempted to pry them apart, but all actions would be for naught. For in the end...well...

In the end the beast loved the beauty.

And the beauty loved the beast.

**~8~8~**

_A/N: I simply had to give them a super sweet, gooey, fluff N' stuff happy ending. After how I ended the first story I really wanted some serious down right adorable ending. Call me a romantic, or just old fashioned, but some things just have to end happy. That being said, what a treat it has been to write about this couple! I never get tired of Rum/Belle. I feel deeply honored and humbled by everyone who took the time to read and review and as always I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it! : 3 _


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